Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and the Speaker of the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly Dragan Covic met on Thursday in Banski dvori in Zagreb to discuss negotiations on the BiH electoral reform in Neum.

The Croat Democratic Union (HDZ BiH) leader Dragan Covic informed the Croatian Prime Minister about further activities of the Croat National Assembly (HNS) after the last round of negotiations on the BiH Election Law reform held in Neum.

He pointed out that in practice the co-signatories of the Mostar Agreement reject its implementation as a basis for a final agreement.

Covic also referred to the “positive opinion of the Venice Commission” on the proposal of the HNS BiH regarding limited amendments to the Constitution which implements all five judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.

He added that respecting the constitutional principle of constituency and “legitimate representation,” models were presented that would eliminate all existing anomalies in electoral legislation and prevent “continued discrimination and imposition of political representatives on Croats as the smallest constituent people.”

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said that the Croatian Government would continue to act actively and support further negotiations between political actors in BiH in order to reach an agreement on changes to the BiH Election Law, as soon as possible.

He said that abusing the principles agreed by the Dayton-Paris Peace Agreement has been putting the Croat people in an unfair position for years, adding that the agreement of political actors should “ensure equality and legitimate representation of all three constituent peoples in BiH's highest institutions.”

He said that reaching an agreement on electoral reform is important for harmonious relations between all three constituent peoples and the functionality and well-being of the whole of BiH.

Plenkovic and Covic expressed satisfaction that “international representatives accepted the proposals of Croat representatives in BiH” and the position of Croatian government representatives as a sustainable model of stability and functionality that would strengthen key principles of the Dayton Accords and be in line with European values.

Consequently, Croatian Prime Minister Plenkovic said that he would continue talks with the leaders of EU institutions and countries, as well as representatives of the international community on the position of the Croat people and the situation in BiH, the Croatian Government Office said.