ZAGREB, October 18, 2018 – Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Wednesday that he would use the EU summit in Brussels as an opportunity to talk to European officials about the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) following the general election, given the status of the Croat people in that country.
“I will use this opportunity to brief them about the situation in BiH after the general election, to inform the leaders about details, the analysis and our views of what happened, notably considering the status of Croats as an equal constituent people in BiH and the need for a legitimate political representation in the highest institutions in the country,” Plenković said before the meeting of the European People’s Party leaders.
Plenković arrived in Brussels where a number of summits will be held over the next three days – the regular October summit dedicated to Brexit, migrations, security, the euro area and foreign policy, and two meetings with Asian countries.
Asked about his expectations of raising the issue of BiH and whether he would ask that this be part of the conclusions, Plenković said such expectations would not be realistic. “It would be unrealistic to expect this to be included in the conclusions. We will ask for a structured discussion. The Foreign Ministry has already done that on the level of the External Affairs Council. We want this topic to get the right amount of attention and for everyone to recognise what this is about because I have been under the impression for years now, that only a small circle of people fully understands what is happening,” Plenković said.
Asked to explain a low support to EU membership in Croatia where, according to Eurobarometre, only 52% of the respondents support Croatia’s membership of the bloc, the prime minister said he needed the support of the media, among others, regarding that issue.
“Help me, all of you help, this is my answer,” Plenković said.
