Plenković: Strong and continuous support for BiH on its path to European Union

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković is on a two-day visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). He will hold a series of meetings with government representatives and visit institutions of strategic importance for Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which are strongly supported by the Croatian Government. The visit began in Sarajevo, where he met with the chairperson of the BiH Council of Ministers, Bojana Krišto.

He said that Croatian priorities in relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina remain unchanged and relate to the preservation of the country's stability, support on its path towards the EU and protection of the rights of Croats as a constituent nation.

Plenković: Solid, continuous, stable support for BiH on its way to the EU

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Andrej Plenković, said at the beginning that it was nice to be in BiH again after his visit in January. He revealed that he had visited Banja Luka, Mostar and the Mostar fair.

“It is good that after the big election cycle in Croatia, parliamentary, European, party elections, refreshed with new democratic legitimacy in the third mandate of the Croatian Government, we choose Sarajevo for the first working bilateral visit in order to send a message to the public of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to all institutions and political parties , but also to the Croatian public about the importance of BiH and mutual relations, and the desire of the Croatian Government to improve these relations, to resolve open issues and to be a strong, firm, continuous, stable support for BiH on its way to the European Union,” he pointed out.

He asserted that since the last visit the circumstances have changed for the better - the European Council made the final decision to open accession negotiations with BiH.

“I believe that this is a very big step, which is the beginning of a new phase of the reform process of harmonizing the entire legislation of BiH, but also the reform of the entire economic system, strengthening of institutions, competitiveness and thus a better perspective for all citizens of BiH. And we are very much looking forward to it,” he continued.

He expects that a new phase of more determined implementation of reforms in BiH will now follow.

“In order to operationally support this new phase, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina signed a contract on European partnership, and today a meeting of the joint commission was held at the level of state secretaries, i.e. deputy ministers of foreign and European affairs. Through this framework, numerous Croatian experts, people who participated in our accession process, will be available first of all to the Council of Ministers, so that their knowledge, experience and assistance in the negotiation and accession process will be available to their colleagues in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Plenković emphasized.

He said that another joint session of the governments of the two countries is planned with the aim of intensifying cooperation, and he also recalled that economic exchange is constantly growing, thus positioning Croatia as the most important foreign trade partner of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He emphasized the need to pass reform laws, including electoral ones.

“This is key to the quality functioning of all BiH institutions. We believe that all three constituent nations should be equal,” Plenković said, pointing out that the current way of electing members of the BiH Presidency creates a bad atmosphere and harms mutual relations in BiH.

He praised the efforts that Bosnia and Herzegovina undertakes in the construction of infrastructure, including the construction of the Vc corridor, which is also in the interest of Croatia, which, as he announced, will complete the highway on its territory by the spring of next year.

He repeated the offer to BiH for supply of natural gas via Croatia with a new gas pipeline from Zagvozd to Posušje, which must be agreed upon in BiH.

“We want an internal consensus and we are ready to help from our side,” Plenković said.

The election campaign slows everything down

Croatia was among the countries that strongly advocated for BiH to receive the status of a candidate for EU membership and for it to be approved to start accession negotiations, which happened in March, but since then, due to internal disputes in that country, no significant progress has been made in the implementation of reforms necessary for the formal opening of the negotiation process.

Quarrels between politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina have become more frequent since the spring, which is why the reform program that should provide access to a fund worth six billion euros, designed to support the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, has not been agreed upon.

The laws that the EU set as a condition for the formal start of negotiations, such as the law on courts, have not been adopted either, and BiH still does not have a negotiating framework, nor has it appointed a person who should be the main negotiator.

Some of the key politicians in BiH, the media and analysts attribute all this to the campaign ahead of the local elections scheduled for October 6, with the assessment that both rhetoric and actions will change when they are over.

The Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bojana Krišto, confirmed her assessment that the reform processes in the country are blocked, pointing out that she is personally trying to work on their elimination.

“We are in a well-known situation, before the local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina every two years we have campaigns, so in such moments, due to complex relations, decision-making in Bosnia and Herzegovina is difficult, or almost impossible,” said Krišto. She added that she still hopes for progress after the elections, including the election law.

“This puts a heavy burden on relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and thus on its European path,” said Krišto, adding that it is necessary to finally resolve the issue of legitimate representation of constituent nations in government bodies at all levels.

Krišto about Croatia: "True and sincere friends of BiH"

The Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Bojana Krišto, emphasized how important this visit is for BiH and congratulated the Prime Minister on his third term and thanked him for choosing BiH as the first bilateral visit at the beginning of his mandate.

She added that this is "confirmation of good friendly relations" and that the prime minister and Croatia are "true and sincere friends of Bosnia and Herzegovina".

“Thank you once again from the bottom of my heart for everything you do for BiH, for all its peoples and citizens, institutions, and in a special way, from the aspect of jurisdiction, I must emphasize on BiH's European path,” said Krišto.

She asserted that Prime Minister Plenković's visit with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister Rutte at the beginning of the year influenced and changed the relations within BiH to make a step forward when it comes to commitments on the European path, but also to improving global relations.

She revealed that the current situation was discussed at today's meeting. They talked about numerous projects that are an expression of good cooperation, about infrastructure and many other activities that await the Republic of Croatia and BiH in the future, in the context of building even better bilateral relations.

“I want to say that we have commitments on the European road. I think that a certain number of laws are quite well harmonized, what we still need to do is the law on the courts, on border control, on the protection of personal data, and of course the BiH Election Law,” she said.

She added that she believes that in this mandate period she will continue to intensify relations with Prime Minister Plenković, work on the welfare of relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia.

The bridge near Počitelje

During his visit to Sarajevo, the Croatian Prime Minister had a separate meeting with members of the leadership of both houses of the BiH Parliament.

Members of the Croatian government delegation led by Plenković are traveling to Mostar after Sarajevo to take part in the opening ceremony of the new highway bridge on the Vc corridor near Počitelje in the evening.

The bridge should facilitate travel from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Croatia, as it represents a part of the already built modern road that continues to the Dalmatian highway. Plenković said that he was going there as an observer and a "congratulator", so it should not be politicized, as some opposition parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina do.

Meetings are planned for Thursday with representatives of the local authorities in Mostar, the rector of the university and the director of the Mostar hospital, whose work is financially supported by Croatia with funds from the state budget.

Source: HRT