Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic met in Zagreb on Tuesday with the Chairman of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dragan Covic, and urged politicians in the neighbouring country to agree on the reform of electoral legislation and a limited constitutional reform, the Croatian government said in a press release.

Plenkovic and Covic discussed the standstill in the electoral reform process and the raising of this issue at the European and global levels to protect stability and peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its progress.

In light of EU documents, notably the recently adopted Strategic Compass and a forthcoming report on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Plenkovic and Covic emphasised that the electoral reform was one of the key steps to ensure the stability and functioning of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Plenkovićc called on political actors in Bosnia and Herzegovina to continue talks, noting that the electoral reform and a limited constitutional reform, based on judgments by both domestic and foreign courts, should be agreed as soon as possible.

He said it was unacceptable for the present practice to continue, in which the more numerous constituent nation, the Bosniaks, outvote the smaller constituent nation, the Croats, in the Federation entity, and in which the Bosniaks choose representatives of the Croats who do not enjoy the support of the Croat electorate.

Plenkovic said Croatia wanted to be of constructive assistance in reaching an agreement that would ensure equality of all three constituent nations and other ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that Croatia also wanted to build good neighbourly relations and intensify economic cooperation with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Covic said that obstructing and stalling the necessary electoral reform would seriously affect relations between the nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the country’s path towards the European Union.

He stressed that key elements of electoral legislation that would ensure legitimate political representation of the three constituent nations must be incorporated into the final solution while respecting the constitution.