Jandroković on official visit to BiH: Strengthening ties between Croatia and BiH through joint projects

(Patria) - Speaker of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PA BiH) Dragan Čović, Speaker of the House of Representatives of PA BiH Nebojša Radmanović, Deputy Speaker of the House of Peoples Nikola Špirić, and Deputy Speakers of the House of Representatives of PA BiH Denis Zvizdić and Marinko Čavara met today with the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Gordan Jandroković, who is on an official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Expressing welcome and gratitude to Speaker Jandroković for the long-standing strong support that the Republic of Croatia and its institutions provide to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the process of European integration, as well as gratitude for the assistance provided by the Government of the Republic of Croatia to our country and the families of victims of recent catastrophic floods and landslides in BiH, the members of the Joint Collegium of both houses assessed that the official visit of the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament will further contribute to the development of good and friendly relations between the two countries, as well as to the improvement of inter-parliamentary and economic cooperation.

Emphasizing that Croatia is the strongest advocate for the European path of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the members of the Joint Collegium of both houses of PA BiH informed Speaker Jandroković about the current political situation in BiH and the intensification of efforts to reach an agreement on the reform agenda, which accompanies the European Union's (EU) Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, as well as on fulfilling key conditions for Bosnia and Herzegovina to formally open accession negotiations for EU membership. In this regard, they pointed out the fact that the enlargement process to the Western Balkan countries will have a significant positive impact on EU security, and called for continued support from Croatia for BiH's European path, emphasizing that Croatia's knowledge and experience in the accession negotiation process are invaluable for BiH.

Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Gordan Jandroković congratulated BiH on the progress on the path to the EU that led to the Council of the EU's decision to open membership negotiations with BiH, and emphasized that the Croatian Parliament and all other institutions of the Republic of Croatia will continue to strongly support the European path of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Jandroković stated that Croatia considers it very important to continue dialogue, mutual understanding, and cooperation in resolving all open issues, and proposed to intensify cooperation between the state parliaments through contacts and meetings of parliamentary committees/commissions.

During the meeting, there was also talk about the continuation and strengthening of economic cooperation, especially about the implementation of energy and infrastructure projects that would further connect the two neighboring and friendly countries and enable further economic development in BiH and Croatia.

Speaker Jandroković invited the members of the Joint Collegium of PA BiH for a return visit to the Croatian Parliament, which was gladly accepted.