Schmidt with EU delegation, Plenković states that a political agreement on electoral reform must be reached

(Patria) - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, along with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, is visiting BiH. Between meetings with BiH officials, they also met with the High Representative in BiH, Christian Schmidt. Plenković commented on that meeting.

"We discussed the current political situation in BiH with High Representative Schmidt. The reform and European path are crucial for the stability, functionality, and development of BiH. It is important to reach a political agreement on electoral reform and ensure the equality of the three constituent peoples," stated Plenković.

At the end of December, the High Representative left open the possibility of imposing new amendments to the BiH Election Law that would ensure the application of new technologies and improve the integrity of the electoral process, but he gave political leaders a deadline to reach an agreement. Not even a month after his address has an agreement been reached on technical amendments to the Election Law, while the HDZ BiH insists that amendments should also be made in other segments, such as the election of members of the BiH Presidency.

Schmidt has faced opposition from the EU regarding new impositions and interventions in the BiH Election Law, and today's statement by Plenković only confirmed this.

S visokim predstavnikom Schmidtom raspravili smo aktualnu političku situaciju u BiH. Reformski i europski put ključan je za stabilnost, funkcionalnost i razvoj BiH. Pritom je važno postići politički dogovor o izbornoj reformi i osigurati ravnopravnost triju konstitutivnih naroda. pic.twitter.com/qULAabHVva

— Andrej Plenković (@AndrejPlenkovic) January 23, 2024

The OHR also commented on the meeting.

"BiH authorities have an opportunity to strengthen the foundations for key reforms towards strengthening the rule of law and the integrity of elections, and to open a historic process in which BiH will begin official negotiations towards full membership in the European Union."

Izuzetno važni razgovori o perspektivama BiH sa predsjednicom Evropske komisije Ursulom von der Leyen @vonderleyen, nizozemskim premijerom Markom Rutteom @MinPres, te hrvatskim premijerom Andrejem Plenkovićem @AndrejPlenkovic u Sarajevu. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/rQ5f7tZUT5

— OHR BiH (@OHR_BiH) January 23, 2024