The Western Balkans are key to lasting peace in Europe and to the strength of the NATO alliance, said Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković in Dayton on Sunday, marking the 30th anniversary of the Dayton Agreement. He added that Croatia supports Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations.

“The Western Balkans are not a peripheral issue. They are crucial for Europe’s long-term peace and the strength of our transatlantic alliance,” Plenković stated at the reception titled “Renewed Focus on Peace and Prosperity in the Balkans.”

The Prime Minister is participating in the Spring Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Dayton, the city where the agreement that ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was signed 30 years ago.

“Even after three decades, memories of the brutal war, human suffering, and destruction—especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina—remain vivid,” said the Prime Minister.

He noted that Croatia, one of the signatories of the agreement, is “proud of the constructive and crucial role” it played in ending the war.

“And it stood by Bosnia and Herzegovina in its darkest hours—providing refuge to displaced people, keeping humanitarian corridors open, and ultimately conducting decisive military operations that paved the way for peace,” Plenković added.

He said that solidarity continues to this day, and that Croatia remains one of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s most reliable partners, supporting its Euro-Atlantic ambitions and advocating for reforms, dialogue, and equal rights for all its constituent peoples.

He emphasised that the rights of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina must never depend solely on “demographic data” because Bosnia and Herzegovina is their homeland—one they have “defended, built, and contributed to its future.”

“Croatia, for its part, has both a moral duty and a strategic interest to ensure that Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina enjoy equal rights—not special privileges,” he said.

He added that Croatia continues to advocate for inclusive dialogue and compromise within Bosnia and Herzegovina so it can fully realise its potential as “a stable, democratic, and prosperous state.”

“And just as we did in the 1990s, we will offer the same support to other countries in Southeast Europe on their path toward stability, prosperity, and integration into the transatlantic community,” he concluded.

Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with Serbia and Kosovo, is one of the few countries in the Western Balkans that is not a NATO member.