Čović: Stop population exodus from BiH

MOSTAR, (Patria) - Member of the Presidency of BiH representing the Croat people, Dragan Čović, attended as high patron, the conference "Croats in BiH - demographic reality" which was held in Mostar, organised by the University of Mostar, the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Bosnia and Herzegovina (HANUBiH), and the Department for Science and Education of the Croatian National Assembly (HNS BiH).

In his opening address, Čović stated that "thinking about the demographic position of Croats in BiH is neither strategically nor politically wise without considering the position of all peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina", emphasizing that the demographic trends are the same for the other two peoples, and therefore, education and economic policies must be considered jointly in order to stop the population exodus.

Čović expressed concern that the population structure in most of BiH has completely changed when looking at the period from 1996 to 2013. He pointed out that BiH now has less than 3 million inhabitants.

At the end of the meeting, a joint action by academic and political actors was proposed.

The intention of the organisers was to comprehensively and scientifically examine the causes, facts, and consequences of the negative demographic trends of the Croat people, both in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the countries of the region, and to offer possible solutions for overcoming and improving the national population situation in BiH.