Zagreb (IKA) – Today, January 16, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader of the Republic of Croatia received Archbishop Cardinal Vinko Puljić of Sarajevo at the Viceroy’s Palace, as announced by the Public Relations Office of the Government of the Republic of Croatia. Cardinal Puljić informed Prime Minister Sanader of the most recent developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly from the aspect of the status of the Croatian nation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Cardinal expressed gratitude for the assistance that the Government provides to Bosnia and Herzegovina. He expressed particular thanks for the contract that Croatia signed with Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the basis of which mutual assistance is guaranteed for disabled war veterans and the families of killed or missing members of the Bosnian Croatian Army.
Prime Minister Sanader emphasized that Croatia considers Bosnia and Herzegovina to be a friendly country and fully supports it in the process of consolidation and European-Atlantic integration. The prime minister particularly pointed out that it is necessary to undertake everything in order for the Croatian nation to maintain its full legal status with the other two nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The prime minister announced his forthcoming official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina and accepted Cardinal Puljić’s invitation to visit the Sarajevo Archdiocese within the framework of this visit.

In Cardinal Puljić’s statement after the meeting, which was closed to the public, he said that he had congratulated Prime Minister Sanader on the fourtheenth anniversary of the international recognition of Croatia (January 15) and there was discussion on the positions that could be taken to foster the equality of the three nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. “We Croatians in Bosnia and Herzegovina are not seeking any privileges but desire the equality of the three nations. However, I express the fear that the new approach to the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina will place Croatians in a secondary position. Therefore, we are expecting the Republic of Croatia to help the Croatians in Bosnia and Herzegovina through its position and according to its constitutional right as a co-signer of the Dayton agreement,” said Cardinal Puljić. He added that he spoke with the prime minister in this context about the principle that the Croatians in Bosnia and Herzegovina should achieve the same rights at all levels as the other two constituent nations and in connection with this also mentioned the proposal, i.e. position, of the Bosnian and Herzegovian Conference of Bishops.
In response to a journalist’s question about why he did not attend the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of Dayton, the cardinal said that Dayton did not achieve anything for the Catholics in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Half of them, who disappeared from the Sarajevo Archdiocese and the Banja Luka Diocese, are not being supported in their attempts to return to their homes by either the Dayton agreement or the international community, said Cardinal Vinko Puljić.