ZAGREB, December 28, 2018 – Croatian Bosniak MP Ermina Lekaj Prljaskaj on Friday dismissed criticisms by some Bosniak ethnic minority organisations of her endorsement of the parliamentary Declaration on the status of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, saying the Declaration does not constitute meddling in BiH’s domestic policy and sovereignty.
The basic point and objective of the Declaration is to point to the unequal position of the Croats as one of the three constituent peoples in BiH, as shown in the failure to honour the BiH Constitutional Court’s decision on election legislation, Lekaj Prljaskaj said in a press release. She represents the Albanian, Bosniak, Montenegrin, Macedonian and Slovenian ethnic minorities in the Croatian parliament.
Several Bosniak associations in Croatia have called on all Bosniak organisations in the country to boycott Lekaj Prljaskaj, disgruntled with how she represents Bosniaks in Croatia and her endorsement of the Declaration, which they consider direct interference in BiH’s domestic affairs.
Lekaj Prljaskaj said that because of her endorsement, she was “exposed to political lynching on social media and to various forms of discrimination” by representatives of the Bosniak minority. She added, however, that she saw her support of Croats outside Croatia as an obligation as an MP and under the Constitution, which says that Croatia takes care of Croats abroad.
“Respecting the Constitution is not meddling in the domestic policy and sovereignty of the neighbour and friend BiH,” she said, adding that she expected “the same criteria in the assessment of other countries’ relations with BiH, for example Turkey which, based on someone’s oral will, proclaims itself guardian of the Bosniak people and all of BiH.”
More news on the relations between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and the status of Croats in Bosnia, which has been in the focus of the media lately, can be found in our Politics section.
