14-10-2011

Goods illegally seized aid workers held against their will, held without food, water and denied a lawyer. Does this sound like an advertising of a State who wants to be in the European League of Nations? We agree with you not likely. However this apparently did happen, if the stories on facebook are anything to go by. If it did happen then it did as one of the many incidences on the Croatian borders. And in this case it concerned transit goods from a charity to another animal charity in Rumania. It not only was seized but they were taken away and charged and more backhanders were asked for by every plea made. They against the EU rules confiscate donations and arrested the members of the charity. To many times this kind of situation happen on the Croatian border.



Last week on 5th October 2011 after a team from Romania Animal Aid drove across Europe to deliver aid to the strays of Romania, after being stopped numerous times across border crossings, despite them being cleared by a customs official at the Croatian border. They said they were illegally detained by Croatian officials, denied food, water and a lawyer. Put on public display for almost 24 hours, ridiculed by said officers, endured racist comments by said officers and one under duress one was forced to sign a statement admitting their alleged guilt. However the facts remains clear that money and goods were taken, people held in incommunicado for over 24 hours, all this in a country that is about to enter the European Union.



Neither aid volunteer was given a clear explanation to why they were being held, even on film officers admitting the aid run and the donations were not illegal, yet over £6000 of donations were illegally retained that would have fed and treated the strays of Romania and numerous violations of human rights were committed.



It would have took the officers a few moments to call the Croatian border in Bregana to confirm with the customs officer he had cleared them to continue and that they had declared the donations to him. Instead the police officers and custom officials at the Dubosevica border choose not to do this and despite evidence to the contrary claim the aid workers failed to declare the donations and so this was the reason for their treatment and detention.



Others have been stopped by customs but also in Croatia by the police were searched and all the food has been taken from them. Others were stopped by the police food and goods taken after being searched and ordered to pay a fine in the region of the equivalent of between 100 and 150 pounds before they could follow their journey, neither food or goods were given back.



This is a country eager to join the NATO in April 2009, Croatia or as the full name is: Republika Hrvatska or as we say: Republic of Croatia.
It has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICC jurisdiction. The civil law system based on Yugoslav civil codes; note - Croatian legislation is changing the former Yugoslav legal model. The membership of Croatia is time after time delayed because of the Croatian awkwardness with the border of Slovenia.



The Croatia-Slovenia land and maritime boundary agreement, which would have ceded most of Pirin Bay and maritime access to Slovenia and several villages to Croatia, remains un-ratified and in dispute; Slovenia also protests Croatia's 2003 claim to an exclusive economic zone in the Adriatic; as a European Union peripheral state, Slovenia imposed a hard border Schengen regime with non-member Croatia in December 2009. There are still disputes that remains with Bosnia and Herzegovina over several small sections of the boundary related to maritime access that hinders ratification of the 1999 border agreement;2007



From the European side Brussels has voiced to EU-bound Croatia its concern over Zagreb’s move to annul all Serbian rulings on Croatian nationals linked to war crimes during the 1990s conflict, an official said on Sunday. “We voiced our concern and raised a series of questions” over a draft law that the government backed in late September", said head of EU delegation there.
The bill, which has yet to be adopted by parliament, proclaims “null and void all legal acts” related to the 1991-1995 war, in which Croatian nationals are “suspected, indicted or sentenced” for war crimes. Meanwhile, the influential Vecernji List daily reported that the European Commission sent a letter to Justice Minister Drazen Bosnjakovic demanding prompt answers to some dozen questions over the issue and its consequences



The legislation was already criticised by Croatian President Ivo Josipovic and state attorney general Mladen Bajic. The latter warned it would only “help war criminals” and stressed it would practically halt cooperation in war crimes cases between Croatia and Serbia.



International customs document issued in accordance with the terms of ATA Convention and Istanbul Convention and includes an internationally recognized guarantee to cover customs duties and taxes, and can be applied instead of the national customs document for temporary import of goods and, when accepted by the contractual parties, for the transit of goods . It can be used for control of the temporary export and re-import of the goods. However Croatia simple ignores agreements and related legislation concerning the border documents and the transit of goods through Croatia. In fact the customs and the police in Croatia are acting as of there is no European community and acting as of they wishes that Croatian never should be a member of the league of Countries. In fact they have delayed the entering of the membership time after time so that now the first possible entry will in September 1012 or even further delayed until 2014.



Croatia applied for European Union membership in 2003, and the European Commission recommended making it an official candidate in early 2004. Candidate country status was granted to Croatia by the European Council in mid-2004. The entry negotiations, while originally set for March 2005, began in October that year together with the screening process.
The accession process of Croatia was derailed by the insistence of Slovenia that the two countries' border issues be dealt with prior to Croatia's accession into the EU.



Croatia finished accession negotiations on 30 June 2011. Signing of the Accession treaty and Croatian referendum are both expected to take place in the second half of 2011. The ratification process, by the Parliaments of all 27 EU member states, is expected to be concluded by the end of June 2013. Therefore, entry into force and accession of Croatia to the EU is expected to take place on 1 July 2013 or 2014. Croatian public opinion has been generally supportive of the EU accession process. Spikes in Euro scepticism have occasionally happened, for example in April 2011 due to the association of the Hague tribunal with the EU.



On 6 March 2005 – the day before talks were to begin – the EU postponed the commencement of negotiations once more, because the ICTY prosecution assessed the Croatian efforts to capture the fugitive general Ante Gotovina (indicted by the ICTY for war crimes and crimes against humanity, but at large since 2001) as neither timely nor sufficient. Under pressure of the EU in December 2005 the Spanish Police finally arrested Ante Gotovina with the help of the Spanish and Croatian government on the Spanish island of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. He was brought to The Hague to be tried for war crimes. With the arrest of Ante Gotovina this issue seems to be now resolved, and entry negotiations have begun anew, after the certification of ICTY chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte that Croatia now fully cooperates with the ICTY.



In April 2011, Croatian generals Gotovina and Markač were given extended prison sentences at the ICTY, which was widely perceived as unjust in the Croatian public. Because of a perceived association of the ICTY (a United Nations body) with the European Union, this caused an increase in opposition to the accession. Croatia must also contend with long-standing border issues with Slovenia. Good trade relations have precluded this up to December 2008 when Slovenia's blockade of Croatia's EU accession stalled the negotiating process for 10 months. In September 2009, it was announced that Slovenia would remove restraints on Croatia's negotiations with the EU without prejudice to the international mediation on the border dispute.



However, as of April 2010, Slovenia is still blocking opening of Chapter 31 (Foreign, Security & Defence Policy). As of June 2010, Slovenia has voted to accept the ruling of international arbitrators on the dispute, removing this obstacle. In fact Croatia has border disputes with Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Montenegro, but as those countries are not yet European Union members they cannot directly blocks the accession process. In December 2008 Croatia and Montenegro agreed that the outstanding sea border issue between the two countries should be settled before an international court whose decision would be accepted in advance by the parliaments of the two countries. Point in all this is that the EU wants Croatia into the Community but that the Croatia population as a whole does not stand to trample to be a member. Hence the many border incidents purely created by the Croatian customs and police.



Not so long ago the Schengen transportation regimen took effect at Croatian border crossings with Slovenia and Hungary. It is still not clear what effect this will have on Croatian citizens, and particularly on Croatian businesses. Public opinion indicates that the new crossing regimen along Croatia's 1,030km of border with new members of the EU will not create undue queues at the crossings. For now, all problems will be resolved through direct contacts with members of the Union. The Croatian Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Economics say they still do not have information on what economic damage might result from the Schengen crossings. Economists estimate that certain losses will undoubtedly take place, primarily because of the increase in transportation costs.




That it is pure aggression by the Croatian customs also shows out of the following conflict. A conflict instigated purely by the Croatian Customs for no other reason than to be awkward. The man at the middle of this incident a Josko Joras is a middle-aged man, who lives in Croatia. Recently Mr. Joras received in order to pay custom duties on a washing machine he was installing in his own home in Croatia. The question is here why? He refused to pay customs duties to Croatia on a washing machine he was installing in his home, on a part that is treated by Croatia as Croatian national territory. So why the custom duties on a washing machine bought in Croatia used in Croatia in a home in Croatia. The point is that although this little area is also claimed by Slovenia ownership of the strip of land in question is officially unresolved, and is a leftover from the days when Slovenia and Croatia were two small states in it much bigger Yugoslavia. Croatia accept the stroke of land as theirs, so why the import duty the custom charges? Simple it is a racist question the man is from ethnic Slovenia decent. Although he lives in Croatia the fact that he was original of Slovenia decent makes him in the eyes of the Croatian Customs a foreigner and for that reason he has to pay custom duties, although the goods are from Croatia used in Croatia.



It clearly shows that the Croatian customs are playing the racist card in that situation, they see the ones as foreigners and for that reason they are open target for the Croatian Customs and police. The fact that Slovenia holds the key for the entry of Croatia to the EU, and the constant problems on the Croatian/Slovenia border makes it suspicious that Croatian as a Croatian government like to be in the EU because of the benefits for their government, but that officials and the population are not so sure of that is a good idea for Croatia. It will be obvious that by the implications of the aggression of the Croatian Customs Slovenia will be jumping at the chance to veto any application for membership! Slovenia by any historical, cultural, demographical even judiciary has no claim and will always be in a non-win position, therefore are using The EU "member clause" to get what they want. It is to understand the hard feelings and bitterness of the Croatian population refusing to give in. Therefore it is to be hoped that Croatia doesn’t cave in under the pressure from its future into the Union with Europe. If the EU is such a great idea of unity, fraternity and liberty, it is clearly not demonstrating it in this border dispute, and the caving in every time by obstruction of the entry of Croatia.