"Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina are no diaspora, they have been there always. Bosnia-Herzegovina is the homeland of Croats from Bosnia-Herzegovina and in principle, they should vote in elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina because it is their country and will be their country," Lagumdzija told reporters after a meeting with Milanovic, which was also attended by the Croat member of Bosnia's collective presidency, Zeljko Komsic.
By making this statement, Lagumdzija supported Milanovic, who recently announced that if his party won parliamentary elections scheduled for November, it would advocate that Croats from Bosnia-Herzegovina no longer have the right to vote in elections or referendums in Croatia because they are not an emigrant community.
According to Croatian election rules, Croatian nationals in Bosnia-Herzegovina, most of whom are of Croatian ethnicity, are entitled to vote in Constituency 11, which is designed for the diaspora. So far, most of them have voted in elections for the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).
Lagumdzija said that Komsic shared his position.
"How this will be regulated depends on Croatia's legislation. Who will be given the right to vote in the upcoming elections will be decided in Zagreb," Komsic said.
Asked if he would call on Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina not to vote in Croatia's parliamentary elections in November, Lagumdzija said that the basic interest of the SDP BiH was the election victory of Croatia's SDP.
Whatever the SDP Croatia thinks should or should not be done by the SDP BiH, we will respect it, Lagumdzija said.
Komsic said that the Zagreb meeting also discussed the issue of Bosnia's Constitution and constitutional reform.
"The position of the SDP BiH is clear - all three constituent peoples in Bosnia-Herzegovina have equal rights on the entire territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the country's future and stabilisation of the region are inseparable from the issue of the constitutional organisation of Bosnia-Herzegovina as a normal, European country whose citizens and three peoples have equal rights," Komsic said.
Milanovic said the meeting was the first in a series of meetings his party intended to hold with the international community and all political factors in the neighbouring country in pursuing an active policy towards Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatian citizens in that country.