Unblocking government formation improved status of BiH Croats

The status of the Croat people in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been much better since High Representative Christian Schmidt on 2 October 2022 unblocked the process of government formation in that country, Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said on Monday.
 
This resulted in the government both at the state and the BiH Federation entity level being formed in a short period of time, Grlić Radman told reporters after a meeting of the ruling HDZ party's leadership.
 
"The status of the Croat people has been much better since, the prime minister is a Croat, Croats are represented at all levels of government and the only thing that needs to be changed is the (Croat) member of the BiH Presidency whose election does not reflect international law and the Dayton agreement because he was not elected with Croat votes," Radman said ahead of a joint session of the governments of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, to take place on Tuesday, for the first time after six years.
 
Grlić Radman expects the joint session of the two governments to focus on all topics of common interest and determine a schedule to tackle issues that currently cannot be resolved.
 
Amendment of BiH's election law will not be on the agenda of the session because it is an internal matter of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Tuesday's meeting is a bilateral meeting, he said.
 
"(We will discuss) everything of common interest, transport infrastructure, border crossings, ecology, ways to strengthen the economy, recognition of diplomas, culture, science," Grlić Radman said.
 
Speaking of a visit by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković to Subotica, where on 23 June he will open the Croatian House, which was mostly financed by Croatia, Grlić Radman said that Plenković would be accompanied by a delegation.
 
Plenković will meet on that occasion with Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, but not with President Aleksandar Vučić, Grlić Radman said, hinting that for the time being there was no reason for a meeting that would be an end in itself.
 
We want a substantial meeting that will result in a serious agreement, he said, mentioning in that context outstanding issues such as the question of 1,812 persons gone missing in the 1991-95 Homeland War and the representation of the Croat minority in Serbian institutions.
 
"Plenković is a prime minister, Vučić is a head of state, there are lower levels that should work to make that meeting justified, when serious topics are mature for a final discussion," said Grlić Radman.
 
Text: Hina/MFEA

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