It is imperative that Bosniaks and Croats improve their relations and Bakir Izetbegovic, the leader of the strongest Bosniak party in BiH, the Democratic Action Party (SDA) told the Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic Monday adding that he would do everything to achieve this, the SDA leader said Tuesday.

One of the projects they could cooperate on, Izetbegovic said, is stopping the construction of the Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP) “Dabar”, which is being built by Bosnia’s Serb-dominated Republika Srpska (RS) entity.

“Yesterday we agreed on the water use for the “Dabar” HPP, or Gornji Horizonti, where an incredible five or six billion cubic meters of water a year would be diverted from the Neretva basin to Trebisnjica, which would turn that part of Herzegovina into a desert,” Izetbegovic said and added that the construction of the Gornji Horizonti energy mega-project in east Herzegovina, would completely change the eco-system from Popovo Polje to Opuzen.
“We have Croatia with us on this issue, if we don’t stop this, they would simply divert all the water to Dubrovacka Rijeka,” said the leader of the SDA.

Izetbegovic added that they also talked about the BiH Election Law and that he presented to the Croatian Prime Minister the positions held by the representatives of Croats in BiH.
“It is imperative to improve relations between Bosniaks and Croats, regardless of what happened, and what was felt the most painfully in Herzegovina. This includes the relations between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is necessary for Croatia and Bosnia, as well as for Croats and Bosniaks, so I will make a special effort in that direction and I think that Mr Plenkovic is a very good interlocutor,” said Izetbegovic.

In the end, Izetbegović said that both Croat Democratic Union (HDZ BiH) and SDA would have to make concessions.

“I will do everything to improve this unnatural situation, where Croats have spoiled relations with us, or Croatia with us, or we with Croatia – to improve that situation,” the SDA leader concluded.