ZAGREB, October 13, 2018 – The Croat member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dragan Čović, met in Zagreb on Saturday with President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, and Foreign and European Affairs Minister Marija Pejčinović Burić, who expressed their full support for the legitimate demands of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Croat community for equality, the government said in a statement.
They discussed relations between the two countries, the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina following the October 7 general election, and the country’s EU membership prospects, of which Croatia is one of the staunchest supporters, the government said.
The Croatian officials congratulated the coalition gathered around the Croatian National Assembly and led by Dragan Čović of the HDZ BiH party, on their good election result.
What cast a shadow on the election process is the fact that once again unconstitutional provisions of the election law were knowingly used against the sovereign right of the Croats to a free and legitimate political choice, the government said.
All the participants in the talks were unanimous that amendment of the election law, in line with the Bosnia and Herzegovina Constitutional Court ruling on legitimate representation, is of crucial importance for democratic stability in the coming period. It must ensure an autonomous choice and equal and legitimate representation also for the Croats as a constituent people, the government said.
Croatia will continue to provide strong support for the legitimate demands of the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina for equality in the context of amendment of the election law, as well as for their right to full political participation and decision-making at all levels of government as defined by Bosnia and Herzegovina’s constitution and its founding principles, which is in the interest of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole, the government said.
Željko Komšić was elected the Croat member of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s collective state presidency in the October 7 elections, beating his rival and incumbent Presidency member Dragan Čović.
Croat political parties and numerous associations have warned that Komšić was imposed for a third time on local Croats contrary to their will and owing to the support of the Bosniak electorate, who are the most numerous ethnic group in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country’s Bosniak-Croat entity.
