Croatia’s Foreign Affairs Minister met with the Archbishop of Bosnia’s Catholic Church and the Head of BiH’s Islamic Community on Wednesday and the main takeaway of the meetings was that dialogue between the two countries is important in order to improve cooperation and mutual understanding.

Croatia’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Gordan Grlic Radman, said that his country strongly supports the integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and that Croatia is a sincere advocate of BiH's Euro-Atlantic path aspirations.

He said that that meeting between Puljic and the Head of Bosnia’s Islamic Community, Husein Kavazovic, is an example of “building bridges.”

“I believe that mutual respect is a very good sign and that it can contribute to even greater bonding, removing mistrust and building stronger ties, bridges. The more meetings take place, the fewer misunderstandings there are,” he said.

Croatia has always helped Croats in Bosnia and the Catholic Church in the country and will continue to do so, he said.

He said that it is unfortunate that of the 105 pastoral parishes in BiH, about 30 have less than 200 members.

“It is a sign of a bad demographic situation and we must work for Croatia to help through European funds in those border areas, wherever it is possible – so that young people stay in their homeland, to improve production, to create new jobs. Croatia will work hard on that,” Garlic Radman said.

The Archbishop, Vinko Puljic, stressed that dialogue between Bosnia and Croatia is important in order to “remove the unpleasant stories that appear in the media.”

“I am convinced that personal meetings will contribute to creating a healthier climate of cooperation. Whether we want it or not, as states, we lean on each other,” he said, adding that this is especially the case for Croat Catholics in Bosnia who depend on Croatia’s support both materially and politically.

Puljic noted that Croatia was one of the signatories of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the war and contains BiH’s Constitution.
He argued that this agreement is still not being implemented properly.

“I hope that a structure of creating a normal state will be established in which there will be equal rights and human freedoms for all peoples,” he said.

Puljic thanked Croatia for all its support for projects in BiH.

“Without help from outside, we could hardly survive,” he said.

Garlic Radman also met with Kavazovic, and they stressed the importance of interreligious dialogue.

“Traditionally good relations between the two countries and the two peoples, which have been occasionally burdened by events in the region in recent decades, must be improved and deepened,” the two agreed.