The President of Croatia, Zoran Milanović, today called on Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina to participate in the upcoming general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to elect “their true representatives.”
“I consider it important that members of all three constituent peoples—Croats, Bosniaks, and Serbs—this time elect their legitimate representative to the Presidency of BiH, as well as their legitimate parliamentary deputies,” Milanović wrote on Facebook.
He assessed that this is especially important for Croats because, as he wrote, since 2018 they have not had their legitimate representative in the Presidency of BiH.
“To correct this injustice, strengthen their constitutive status, and protect their position and rights, Croats in BiH need to go to the polls,” Milanović emphasized.
He added that the Croatian people in BiH have the opportunity to show “what their true will is, because they are aware that this is a prerequisite for the survival of Croats in BiH and the foundation for lasting stability and functioning of BiH.”
The authorities in Croatia do not consider the current member of the BiH Presidency, Željko Komšić, a legitimate representative of the Croats, because they believe that a large number of Bosniaks in the Federation of BiH voted for him, thereby, according to Zagreb, outvoting the less numerous Croats.
In his post, Milanović emphasized that Croatia and BiH are friendly countries, most closely connected by the Croatian people who have lived there for centuries and who are constituent, just like the Bosniaks and Serbs.
“The national interest of the Republic of Croatia is a unified, stable, and secure BiH, as it is a national and state interest, but also a constitutional obligation of the Republic of Croatia to protect the rights and position of Croats in BiH,” stated Milanović, who has been elected president twice consecutively as the candidate of the center-left coalition led by his former party, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) of Croatia.
He stressed that it is Croatia’s duty to do everything to ensure that Croats remain a constituent people and, as he wrote, have their legitimate representatives in government bodies at all levels.
“I am convinced that this is also best for BiH, because it is precisely the Croats who are the link preventing further destabilization of that country and the engine driving BiH towards the European Union,” the Croatian president emphasized.
Over the years, the President of Croatia has significantly changed his stance regarding the method of electing the Croatian member of the BiH Presidency, as well as towards Željko Komšić himself and Zagreb’s policy towards BiH.
As SDP president, Milanović supported Željko Komšić for the Croatian member of the Presidency in 2010, while as Prime Minister of Croatia he advocated a more restrained approach by Zagreb towards BiH’s internal political issues, and in 2012 he said that “Croatia should not be a patron of Croats in BiH.”
As President of Croatia since 2020, he has held a significantly different position, insisting, like the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), that Croats in BiH should elect their own representative, while disputing Komšić’s legitimacy.
In the race for the Croatian member of the BiH Presidency in the upcoming elections are HDZ BiH candidate Darijana Filipović, independent candidate Zdenko Lučić, supported by five Croatian opposition parties, and Slaven Kovačević, candidate of Željko Komšić’s Democratic Front.
In the Federation of BiH, voters directly elect the Bosniak and Croatian members of the Presidency, with each voter able to vote for a candidate for one of those two positions, while in Republika Srpska, voters directly elect only the Serbian member of the BiH Presidency.
Your perspective is part of the story
Start the discussion and be the first to comment on this story.