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Croatia to connect natural gas network,

LNG terminal to Bosnia

CROATIA CROATIA will connect its natural gas network Southern Gas Interconnection, aiming to help
and the Krk liquified natural gas (LNG) termi- Bosnia’s gasification.
This will help Bosnia nal with neighbouring Bosnia & Herzegovina “We are in talks with officials from Bosnia &
achieve independence via the Southern Gas Interconnection, helping Herzegovina to build the pipeline so that the gas
from Russian gas. Sarajevo to secure independence from Russian arriving at the LNG terminal could also be used
gas, Economy and Sustainable Development to supply Bosnia. Croats in Croatia and Croats in
Minister Davor Filipovic said in a statement. Bosnia are parts of the same [ethnic] group, and
The statement follows a threat by Bosnian it is only natural that we have Bosnian Croats in
Serb politicians to boycott the work of state-level mind when we plan to build a pipeline in Croatia
institutions if the state-level government refuses leading to Bosnia,” Filipovic said as quoted in the
to give the green light to the construction of a statement.
new pipeline that would transport gas from Rus- The 180-km Southern Gas Interconnection is
sia by the end of the week. a cross-border pipeline connecting Croatia and
Bosnia consists of two autonomous entities Bosnia, which should help reduce Bosnia’s full
– the pro-Russian Serb-dominated Republika dependence on Russian gas. Currently, Bosnia
Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation. While has only one cross-border connection, which is
the Federation is pushing for reforms that would an extension of the Turkish Stream pipeline run
secure the country EU membership and is rather by Gazprom.
pro-Western, Republika Srpska has been block- However, the Southern Gas Interconnec-
ing reforms for years and its current President tion, which was approved by the Federation in
Milorad Dodik is a loyal supporter of Russian 2021, has been delayed due to opposition from
President Vladimir Putin. the main Croat party in Bosnia, HDZ BiH. The
Filipovic said that Croatia will participate in party has been in coalition with the main Serb
the €100mn project for the construction of the party, the SNSD, for years. ™

Week 08 24•February•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P15