ZAGREB, October 28, 2018 - The deputy chairman of the Croatian parliamentary foreign affairs committee Joško Klisović has said the crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) after the election of Željko Komšić as the Presidency's Croat member thanks to Bosniak votes could deepen further, cause new political conflicts and stop BiH on its European Union journey.

Speaking for the Bosnian Večernji List daily of Saturday, Klisović said the key political forces' disregard for a Constitutional Court decision on the election legislation would cause a serious political crisis and that this was a test for the country's rule of law. "Without the rule of law, there's no EU membership nor trust of citizens and constituent peoples in their own state's institutions."

Klisović, of the opposition Social Democrats (SDP), said he expected EU institutions to insist on the rule of law in Bosnia and Herzegovina and technically help the political forces in the country change the election legislation. He added that Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's initiative in the EU in that regard was too late.

Klisović said that Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović had additionally disrupted relations at her meetings in Moscow and Ankara. "Her actions have only irritated the citizens of BiH, notably Bosniaks, without whom election legislation can't be changed, and she also hurt Croats' interests."

Klisović said the crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina could deepen further if, contrary to a Constitutional Court ruling, Croat representatives without the people's legitimacy were elected to the upper houses of the state and Federation entity parliaments. He said that ignoring the ruling would lead to a constitutional and political crisis as it would be difficult to legally form the government, adding that any other attempt to form it could be contested at the Constitutional Court.

Speaking of Komšić's election to the BiH Presidency, Klisović said it was legal but contrary to the spirit of the Dayton peace agreement, which ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He said Croatia's delegation made a mistake during the peace negotiations in Dayton in 1995 by not ensuring a more precise definition in the BiH constitution or an interpretive statement to confirm that each people in BiH elected their own representative in the Presidency. He added that the delegation was told that was envisaged under article 5 of the constitution.

Klisović said it was necessary to change the BiH constitution, making its provisions more precise, and to enable ethnic minorities to run for the highest positions. In order to do that, "you must generate serious support from the international community... and assure Bosniaks that you don't intend to destroy BiH... and that you want to constructively work on its well-being by retaining your national identity and rights," he was quoted as saying.

ZAGREB, October 26, 2018 - Croatia's European parliamentarians wanted to additionally raise awareness about the status of Bosnian Croats with their letter to the presidents of the European Parliament, Council and Commission about the need for legitimate representation of Croats in all institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and particularly in its presidency, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Friday, adding that he wasn't planning to meet with the presidency's newly-elected Croat member, Željko Komšić, just yet.

"I think that the message by eleven of my colleagues is entirely compatible with what I said in the European Council. This letter should additionally sensitise the leaders of European institutions about the need for legitimate representation in all institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in particular in its presidency because the meaning of the Dayton or Paris peace accords is not to undermine its fundamental essence, its fundamental provisions of the equality of the constituent peoples," Plenković told the press.

Yesterday Croatia's MEPs sent a letter to EU officials expressing deep concern with the fact that the Croat member to the presidency, Željko Komšić, was elected by Bosniak voters while the majority of Croats voted for another candidate, Dragan Čović.

Asked whether he would meet with Komšić soon, the prime minister said that he hadn't planned to. "He is a member of the presidency and his main counterpart is the President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. We haven't planned anything of that nature yet," Plenković said.

Asked about the recent incidents with migrants at the Maljevac border crossing, Plenković said that Interior Minister Davor Božinović was in daily contact with the European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos and that the commission was monitoring everything that is being done to prevent illegal migration.

The Maljevac - Velika Kladuša crossing between Bosnia and Croatia is still closed for the third day in a row, the Interior Ministry reported earlier on Friday. About 200 migrants are situated on the Bosnian side of the border and are being monitored by Bosnian border police who are tasked to prevent the migrants from illegally crossing the border.

ZAGREB, October 25, 2018 - US Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina said on Wednesday that HDZ BiH president Dragan Čović's claim, that the prerequisites to form a government in that country following recent general elections would not exist until the election law is amended, was irresponsible and unfair.

ZAGREB, October 23, 2018 - The border police of Bosnia and Herzegovina stopped a large group of migrants at the Izačić border crossing while they were trying to reach Croatia on late Monday evening.

ZAGREB, October 21, 2018 - Željko Komšić, who was recently elected the Croat member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is not welcome in towns in the country's northern Posavina Canton, local officials have said, joining other Croat-populated communities in the area between Posavina and central Bosnia which strongly oppose Komšić's election.

ZAGREB, October 20, 2018 - Bosnia and Herzegovina's Justice Minister Josip Grubeša (HDZ BiH) described as malicious on Friday the motion by Civil Affairs Minister Adil Osmanović (SDA) asking the country's ombudsman to launch proceedings before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg to challenge the construction of the Pelješac Bridge by Croatia.

ZAGREB, October 20, 2018 - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved the financing for the preparation of project documentation to connect Bosnia and Herzegovina to Croatia's gas network at the south interconnector, BH-Gas confirmed on Friday.

ZAGREB, October 19, 2018 - Bosnian Council of Ministers Chairman Denis Zvizdić on Friday accused Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković of meddling in Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) internal affairs and asked him to stop, saying he was undermining the good neighbourly relations between the two countries.

ZAGREB, October 19, 2018 - Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday that he was satisfied with the way his position on Bosnia and Herzegovina and the status of the Croat people was accepted at the EU summit in Brussels.

ZAGREB, October 16, 2018 - Leader of the Croatian Democratic Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ BiH) Dragan Čović received an express rejection to his demands that before a new government is formed based on the results of the October 7 general election that amendments be made to the election law.