Plenković expects the outvoting of Croats in BiH will not be repeated in elections

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković is on a working visit to Mostar. Accompanying him are the ministers of physical planning, regional development, tourism and sports, labor and social policy, as well as the State Secretary of the Central State Office for Croats Abroad.

Plenković expects that the outvoting of Croats in BiH will not be repeated in the elections

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković expressed his expectation that the upcoming general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina will not see a repeat of the practice whereby Bosniak voters crucially influence the election of the Croat member of the BiH Presidency.

"We believe that such a practice is good neither for building trust nor for the functioning of institutions, and we believe that this will not be the case after these elections," Plenković said in Mostar on Tuesday when asked about expectations for the upcoming general elections, which will be held in Bosnia and Herzegovina on October 4, given that the Election Law has not been amended.

In four electoral cycles, Željko Komšić was elected as the Croat member of the BiH Presidency predominantly by the votes of Bosniaks, which regularly caused tensions between the two nations. For the upcoming elections, Željko Komšić's Democratic Front party nominated his advisor in the BiH Presidency, Slaven Kovačević, who last year lost a case before the European Court of Human Rights through which he sought to bring about a change in the country's political system.

At a press conference, Plenković added that Croatia continues to advocate for amendments to the Election Law that would ensure the legitimate representation of the constituent peoples in BiH institutions.

"We consider it a pity that ahead of the last general elections, following the discussions that were held, those limited constitutional amendments and changes to the Election Law did not occur, which would have ensured that one of the two Presidency members elected on the territory of the Federation—and by that, I mean the Croat member of the Presidency—is elected by voters who are Croats," he said.

Such a solution, he added, was in the spirit of the Dayton Agreement, and he expressed his expectation that local political parties would reach an agreement on this matter after the elections.

"Legitimacy is what matters most in political life, and it is achieved through fair systems, not through systems that have inherent imperfections and, consequently, serious political anomalies," Plenković emphasized.

Darijana Filipović, the HDZ BiH candidate for the Croat member of the BiH Presidency, stated at the press conference that during her visit to Washington last week, she emphasized the importance of electoral reform to all officials of the current US administration so that the Croat people in BiH could achieve full constitutional equality and elect their legitimate representatives to state institutions.

"In all discussions, we pointed out the necessity of a fair electoral reform and the positions of Croatian politics, so that the election law could be amended to eliminate anomalies within it, thereby bringing us at least a step closer to the Croat people achieving full constitutional equality with the other two constituent peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina," Filipović said. She announced the continuation of contacts with the US administration to try to correct the injustice toward this nation.

In Mostar on Tuesday, 600 contracts were signed for projects of Croats from BiH across various fields, which Croatia is financing with 25.75 million euros. The contracts relate to projects funded by the Central State Office for Croats Abroad, the Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, and the Ministry of Labor, Pension System, Family and Social Policy.

On this occasion, Plenković specifically singled out the University of Mostar, the University Clinical Hospital Mostar, and the Croatian National Theater currently under construction, which are of strategic importance for the Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"This is part of the systematic policy of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, which aims to advance and improve relations between Croatia and BiH, and particularly to care for Croats outside of Croatia, most of all for Croats as a constituent and equal people in BiH. Today's event is part of our comprehensive and well-thought-out policy that we have been implementing for the last 10 years. It follows a similar meeting we had in Posavina, in Orašje, at the end of July when the projects were worth 37 million euros. Today, the total value is 36 million euros. All of this speaks to the strength and cross-departmental support of all our ministries and offices," said Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.

"We participate through two European Union financial perspectives, in cross-border cooperation programs where partners from the Republic of Croatia jointly implement projects with partners from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Specifically, so far we have implemented 117 such projects, worth nearly 130 million euros, and Croatia has also decided to use state budget funds to support projects jointly implemented by Croatian partners on both sides of the border. We have a support program for Croats in BiH that has been implemented since 2021, and through it, we have realized 370 projects worth 15 million euros," said Nataša Mikuš Žigman, Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds.

"The key task is to transfer part of that experience, to try to help Bosnia and Herzegovina with the knowledge we acquired, so that good lessons can be learned from it, but also to avoid repeating some expensive mistakes from the initial years when Croatia became a member state of the European Union," said Karlo Ressler, Member of the European Parliament.

"This topic is particularly important at this moment because Bosnia and Herzegovina is still somewhat stuck in that process of European integration, in certain political blockades. But what awaits us in Bosnia and Herzegovina as early as the end of this year, and at the beginning of next year, is the drafting of new strategies within Bosnia and Herzegovina—city, municipal, cantonal, federal, and all other strategies—where we open up space to try and incorporate our strategies, our priorities, and our needs into the context of European policies, that is, the new European financial framework," said Ivan Jurilj, Director of the Government Office of the West Herzegovina Canton for European Integration.

When asked about the case of Milijan Brkić and alleged failures in his medical treatment in Mostar, Prime Minister Plenković did not go into detail, stating that medical questions had already been answered by the relevant authorities from the Ministry of Health.

Asked whether he would support the introduction of sanctions against the informal leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Milorad Dodik, for glorifying war criminal Ratko Mladić, the Croatian Prime Minister said that Dodik has a better status in the international community since he is no longer in office as president.

Alongside Plenković in Mostar were the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets Branko Bačić, Minister of Regional Development and European Union Funds Nataša Žigman, Minister of Tourism and Sports Tonči Glavina, and Minister of Labor, Pension System, Family and Social Policy Alen Ružić.

Source: HRT