Croatia's Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman said on Wednesday that in recent years the highest Croatian officials had invested maximum effort to protect the position of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, notably the need to change the electoral law, and that this effort led to concrete results this year.

“In all international contacts the government pointed out the need to change the electoral law in BiH that would ensure full equality for all constituent peoples, without the possibility of outvoting,” he said, submitting reports on the implementation of the Declaration on the status of Croats in BiH in 2020 and 2021 to the Sabor.

In June, the European Council for the first time clearly expressed willingness to grant BiH candidate status and this year BiH was also included in the EU Strategic Compass, which underlines the equality of the constituent peoples, the minister said.

Also, High Representative to BiH Christian Schmidt recently made a decision on changing the Federation entity's constitution and BiH's electoral law, he added.

The minister said the government had also provided concrete assistance to schools, hospitals, cultural institutions and the Catholic Church.

Arsen Bauk of the opposition SDP said the reports did not mention the activities of President Zoran Milanovic as the co-creator of the foreign policy.

Grlic Radman said Milanovic was a damage-doer and that he was also that when he served as prime minister. He said Milanovic bad-mouthed and belittled Croats in BiH and that there was no need to talk about Milanović's activities when there had not been any.

Dalija Oreskovic of the opposition Centre party said the government did not care about the Croatian people but about power at any cost, as seen in the reports which, she said, just listed transfers from the state budget to assist Croats in BiH.

“It's actually a vote-buying mechanism,” she said. MPs of the ruling HDZ said she was baselessly insulting and belittling all Croats in BiH.