Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman on Tuesday presented the report on the implementation of the Declaration on the Status of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2019.
The parliament passed the Declaration on 14 December 2018, stipulating that the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs submit a report once a year on its implementation and the realization of Croatia’s institutional support (political and economic) to BiH Croats.
In his address, Grlić Radman underscored that the Declaration’s support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of BiH is unquestionable, but that the main precondition for a functional and stable BiH is satisfaction with the overall quality life for all three constituent nations based on the constitutional principles agreed under the Dayton Agreement 25 years ago.
The minister warned, however, that Croats in BiH are facing institutional violence, as evidenced by their being denied legitimate political representation and all the negative social consequences arising from this fact. Therefore, Croatia’s institutional support is more than necessary so that Croats can continue to live in BiH where they have done so for centuries.
Grlić Radman said that Croatia’s institutional support to BiH Croats in 2019 involved the highest state officials and bodies, who within their remit offered significant political, financial and operational support to numerous education, scientific and religious institutions.
The minister informed the parliament that Prime Minister Andrej Plenković had participated in a number political and social activities aimed at contributing to the stability in BiH.
He underlined that the survival and social progress of BiH Croats was one of Croatia’s strategic national objective, in correlation with the goal of a sovereign BiH becoming a stable and functional state, which is a member of Euro-Atlantic associations and in which the three constituent nations live in peace and enjoy their constitutional rights.
“Within European institutions, at the expert and political level, Croatia continued to actively push for the affirmation of the constitutional principle of equality of all three constituent peoples in BiH, which would ensure legitimate representation at all levels of government, including the presidency,” Grlić Radman said.
“The issue of facilitating the exercise of rights by HVO personnel and the issue of obtaining Croatian citizenship was resolved through state body synergy. I am especially pleased by the cooperation in absorbing available European funds, as it one of the political tools that can help improve the socioeconomic position throughout BiH”, the minister concluded.