Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković welcomed the appointment of the new government of the Federation of BiH at talks with the chairperson of the BiH Council of Ministers, Borjana Krišto, and the president of the HNS of BiH, Dragan Čović, the HNS reported.

On Monday afternoon, Plenković arrived in Mostar for a two-day visit during which he will attend the opening of the International Business Fair on Tuesday.

At the end of last week, a new government of the Federation of BiH was appointed, which consists of ministers from the parties gathered around the HNS of BiH and the group of Bosniak and civic parties led by the SDP of BiH.

This unblocked the election of the new entity government, which was contested by the largest Bosniak Party of Democratic Action.

Prime Minister Plenković welcomed the formation of the government at the level of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and expressed his full support for the activities of the Croatian National Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the press release states.

He said that it is necessary to urgently continue the talks on the electoral reform, in order to achieve the equality of all three constituent peoples.

According to Plenković, the issue of reforming the electoral system is an internal issue of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the press release states.

The Croatian Prime Minister also announced Croatia’s strong commitment to the opening of accession negotiations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Union as soon as possible.

Čović and Krišto pointed out that it is important to carry out constitutional reforms in order for the country to fulfill one of the most important conditions for advancing towards the European Union. Čović thanked Plenković for his efforts in getting BiH candidate status with the Union in December last year at the session of the European Council, the press release says.

Earlier on Monday, Plenković visited Mostar-Duvanj bishop Petar Palić and toured an exhibition of valuable art in the bishop’s gallery, which was mostly financed by the Croatian government.

Later this evening, he was schedued to take part in a dinner event attended by Miroslav Lajčak, the EU’s special representative for the issues of the Western Balkans and the Belgrade-Priština dialogue.

On Tuesday, the Croatian Prime Minister will be at the opening of the Mostar 2023 International Business Fair, with dozens of Croatian exhibitors expected to participate. This year’s partner country of the fair is Israel.