President Milanović: Survival, constitutivity and welfare of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a strategic interest of the Republic of Croatia
With regard to a new round of negotiations on limited constitutional reform and changes to the election law in Bosnia and Herzegovina being conducted with the support of international mediators, the President of the Republic of Croatia Zoran Milanović released the following statement:
“The survival, constitutivity and well-being of the Croatian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina are strategic interests of the Republic of Croatia. Concern for the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina – for the most part also citizens of the European Union – is therefore not just a constitutional obligation of the Republic of Croatia, but a lasting national interest of the Croatian state as well. For the Republic of Croatia and its citizens it is important to have on its longest, eastern state border an integral, stable and friendly Bosnia and Herzegovina that will function as an orderly, democratic state of three constituent peoples: Croats, Bosniaks and Serbs.
In the coming days, key negotiations with the support of international mediators will be conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina on limited constitutional reform and changes to the election law that must be implemented ahead of the election scheduled for the fall of this year.
The Croatian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina are faced with permanently losing their equality and constituent status. It is an unacceptable and illegitimate longstanding practice that representatives of the Croatian people in state bodies are elected by members of other peoples.
It is vital for the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina that limited constitutional reform and changes to the election law guarantee them legitimate representation in the state bodies of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Legitimate representation of the Croats must be guaranteed not only with regard to the election of a member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency, but is crucial in the election of legitimate representatives of the Croats in the House of Peoples of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well. After all, the House of Peoples of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina should justify its name since the legitimate representatives of the constituent peoples have to sit in it, including the representatives of the Croatian people.
The right to democratic decision-making is achieved only by legitimate political representation that must be based on the democratic choice of those they represent and whose interest they represent. Without clear constitutional and legal guarantees including the guarantee that they will be legitimately represented in the House of Peoples of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina would be permanently subjected to election manipulation, reduced to a national minority and forced to leave Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Republic of Croatia must not and will not allow this to happen. Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot exist without the Croats.
Once again I call upon the Government of the Republic of Croatia in a common effort to take advantage of all available political and diplomatic means in order to provide unwavering support to the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Only joint action, strong representation and an especially uncompromising implementation of these stances can result in a lasting and effective protection of the rights of the Croats as an equal people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, thereby guaranteeing the national interests of the Republic of Croatia.
I expect our international partners to recognize the importance of limited constitutional amendments and changes to the election law for the realization of the rights of the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a constituent people, and that this is the only right way towards the establishment of permanent stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Equally so, I expect them to appreciate and accept the fact that the guarantee of the constituent rights of the Croatian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina is of strategic interest for the Republic of Croatia as well.”