Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic arrived on Wednesday on an official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Many meetings await him today, the first of which was held with Bosnia’s Council of Ministers’ Chair Borjana Kristo.

At the beginning of the press conference, Kristo congratulated Plenkovic on his third mandate as head of the Government of the Republic of Croatia and thanked him for choosing Bosnia as his first foreign visit.

At the meeting, the two discussed the current situation, numerous infrastructural and other projects, and the future of good bilateral relations.

“We have obligations on the European road, a certain number of laws have been well harmonized. We have to do the Law on Court, the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC), border control, etc. but also the Election Law, which makes our European journey more difficult,” said Kristo.

The two also said the interstate agreement on European partnership between Bosnia and Croatia, was adopted.

Plenkovic said it was good that after the election Croatia – refreshed with new democratic legitimacy – they chose Sarajevo for their first working bilateral visit, to send a message about the importance of BiH and relations with it, and the desire of the Croatian government to improve those relations.

“We want to be a strong supporter of BiH on its European path. The European Council made the final decision on the opening of accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina. I believe that this is a big step, a step that is the beginning of the reform process,” Plenkovic said.

In order to operationally support this new phase, a contract on European partnership was signed.

“Numerous Croatian experts will be at BiH's disposal so that with their knowledge and experience and assistance in the negotiation process, they will be available to their colleagues in BiH,” Plenkovic noted.

Journalists asked what will be the priority of his policy towards BiH in the new mandate.

“The priority will be an overall progress towards the EU, reforms, opening of negotiations… We will provide strong support in those fields. The Election Law is crucial for the quality functioning of all BiH institutions. We believe that all three constituent peoples must be completely equal,” he stressed.

The Croatian Prime Minister pointed out that Armin Hodzic, the newly elected representative of the Bosniak minority in the Croatian Parliament, is with him in Sarajevo, who is also a member of the parliamentary majority, which, he said, is a sign of how much the Croatian government wants to include minorities in their work.