Croatian Prime Minister visited Mostar and Međugorje on Saturday.
Croatia supports territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and its European course and intends to guarantee the equality of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, said Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Saturday in Mostar, at the end of his two-day official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, reports Večernji List on October 29, 2016.
“I am determined as Prime Minister to promote in the most constructive way possible the stability of the country and its European path, “said Plenković after a meeting with Croatian member of BiH Presidency Dragan Čović and other officials of the Croatian National Congress of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which gathers leading Croatian political parties in the country. Čović thanked Plenković and the new Croatian government for their support, emphasizing that Bosnia and Herzegovina had to implement a number of reforms, including changes to the electoral law that would bring it closer to the EU and guarantee the equality of Croats.
Plenković offered Croatia’s assistance in filling out a questionnaire that BiH authorities will receive in December, and on the basis of which the European Commission will make a recommendation on whether the country should become an official candidate for EU membership. “Croatia supports territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, we are against all tendencies that could lead to its destabilization and disintegration”, explained Plenković.
Čović said that it was due to the engagement of Plenković, Foreign Minister Davor Ivo Stier and other Croatian MEPs at the time, that BiH was able to apply for membership in the EU. “If it were not for Plenković, Stier and others, I am quite sure that we would not have been able to submit our application on 15 February. We will receive a questionnaire in December and we hope to receive the candidate status by the end of next year”, said the Croatian member of the BiH Presidency.
In Mostar, Prime Minister Plenković met separately with the Rector of the University Ljerka Ostojić and director of the University Clinical Hospital Ante Kvesić. He also met with the Herzegovinian Franciscan provincial Miljenko Šteko, and visited the Croatian National Theatre in Mostar. His visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina ended in Međugorje.
