"We won't and cannot watch Croats in Bosnia be deprived of their rights," Karamarko said after the talks. According to him, the two HDZ parties have entered a new stage in their relations. "Covic and I feel the need to put the two parties in the function of optimal cooperation as soon as possible.
"Croats in Bosnia are not a national minority," Karamarko said, stressing that his party had no ambitions to interfere in the affairs of the neighbouring country but that it was definitely interested in the fate of the Croat people in Bosnia.
He also addressed the issue of the Peljesac bridge, saying that it was a synonym for a physical connection between two parts of Croatia. This is also a security and psychological issue, he said.
Asked to comment on Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic's statement that Veliki Skoj and Mali Skoj islands near Neum were only rocks over which Croatia should not be in disagreement with Bosnia, Karamarko said "this statement is so flippant I don't know how to address it."
Covic said his party was not satisfied with the solution offered through the transport corridor through Neum and that it shared the position of the Croatian HDZ party.
Karamarko said his HDZ party would support the unification of the two Bosnian HDZ parties - the HDZ BiH and the HDZ 1990 - but added that this decision was up to members of the two parties in Bosnia.