Members of the Collegium of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly met with the delegation of the Croatian Parliament

 Members of the Collegium of both Houses of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PABiH) met today with the Delegation of the Croatian Parliament, which is officially visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Speaker of the PABiH House of Representatives Mladen Bosić, Deputy Speaker Šefik Džaferović and Deputy Speaker Borjana Krišto, as well as Deputy Speaker of the PABiH House of Peoples Bariša Čolak, expressed their belief that this visit of the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, Željko Reiner, will contribute to further enhancement of very good relations between two neighbouring countries and thus become a part of desired trend of better intercommunication of the entire South Eastern Europe.

Speaker Mladen Bosić pointed out to the need to avoid this region's entrapment in pursuing topics from the past instead of creating better future for peoples and citizens. In this respect, he urged for more work to be done on establishment of positive environment for all citizens, where neighbouring Croatia can certainly be beneficial partner with its experience of a member of the European Union.

Emphasizing that the visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina was his first official diplomatic visit after his election as the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, Mr. Reiner accentuated that stabile and functional Bosnia and Herzegovina is in the interest of Croatia and that Croatia fully supports its territorial integrity and subjectivity. He also expressed his belief that enthusiasm will be preserved after BiH submits the application for the candidate status in the European Union and that the work will be continued with reforms which are important not only for EU but first and foremost for peoples and citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It was also pointed out today that the work on the constitutional reform awaits our country which will ensure that, through finalization of that process and implementation of judgements of international and national courts, full equality is given to all constituent peoples and all citizens in every corner of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It was emphasized at the meeting that two friendly countries need a stronger economic cooperation. A number of Croatian companies have their branch offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina and there is a significant number of BiH companies with offices in Croatia, which creates the possibility for more intensive contacts and for the increase of the cross-border cooperation and merchandise trade. Furthermore, major infrastructure projects such as Adriatic pipeline, Corridor V-c - the Adriatic-Ionian Motorway for interconnection were pointed out as a great opportunity, since their importance exceeds the interests of only our two countries and since they would therefore certainly have been significantly supported with the European Union development funds.

Croatia, as was said today, is expected to try to contribute to the positive processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina through the European Partnership Agreement. The belief was expressed regarding open issues between two countries that the announced high quality joint session of the Croatian Government and the BiH Council of Ministers will put an end to at least some of those open issues.

The visit of the Croatian Parliament Delegation will be continued with meetings with highest political representatives of the Council of Ministers and the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as with officials from entity governments of Federation BiH and Republika Srpska and a significant number of cantonal, cultural and religious community representatives. (End)