ZAGREB, April 27, 2019 – Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in Mostar on Saturday that Croatia would continue strongly supporting Bosnia and Herzegovina on its European journey, which also includes making it possible for the Croats to have the equal status as the other two constitutional peoples.
“We as the party (the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ) and as the government strongly support Bosnia and Herzegovina’s European journey. We know that the HDZ BiH plays a prominent role in that, ” Plenković told reporters in the southern city of Mostar ahead of the HDZ BiH’s election convention.
According to Plenković’s explanation this support can be seen in the HDZ decision to nominate Željana Zovko, native of Mostar, as one of the 12 HDZ candidates for the forthcoming European Parliament elections.
Zovko is one of the 11 Croatian deputies in the incumbent 751-seat European Parliament, and succeeded Plenković to this post after he became the Prime Minister of Croatia.
Plenković praised Zovko, who holds Croatian and Bosnian citizenship and who used to be Bosnian ambassador to a few countries, as an excellent option for promoting the interests of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Plenković commented on the HDZ BiH’s role in bringing Bosnia and Herzegovina closer to Europe, recalling that when he was the chairman of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s tripartite presidency, the party leader Dragan Čović submitted his country’s application for EU membership in Brussels on 15 February 2016.
Čović told the press conference that during today’s convention his party would “extend the hand of unity” to the Serbs and the Bosniaks so that they could together steer the country towards the European Union.
More news about relations between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina can be found in the Politics section.
