Plenković, Čović talk current situation in Bosnia: equal representation of Croats common priority

Photo /Vijesti/2021/srpanj/20 srpnja/2.jpg

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Tuesday received Dragan Čović, deputy chairman of the Bosnian Parliament's House of Peoples, for talks on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with special emphasis on achieving equality for its three constituent peoples.

According to a press release from Plenković's office, they also talked about the protection of the rights of Croats in BiH, the fight against COVID-19, and the continuation of the economic cooperation between the two countries.

Plenković said the issue of the status of Croats in BiH was a vital Croatian interest and that the Croatian government's consistent policy was to extend strong support for achieving their equality and for their legitimate representation in the BiH Presidency and highest representative institutions.

He said Croatia wanted to constructively help so that all political actors in BiH could reach a consensus on reforming the election law, adding that he recently discussed that with the new High Representative to BiH, Christian Schmidt, and the U.S. envoy for BiH and Southeast Europe, Matthew Palmer.

Čović underlined the importance of the current reforms for BiH's European path as well as its stability and development. He said he was confident a final agreement could be reached this year on changes to the election law and limited changes to the constitution.

He said BiH's foundations must not be endangered and that the three constituent peoples must be legitimately and appropriately represented in government.

Plenković said that in the EU, Croatia was the strongest advocate of BiH's European journey as well as a supporter of its NATO membership. "It's necessary to strengthen the reform process which guarantees economic stability and the good of the whole country."

Čović thanked Plenković for Croatia's donation of 240,000 COVID vaccines.

Plenković recalled that, under a government decision, all BiH citizens would be able to get vaccinated in Croatia for free.

Text: Hina



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