ZAGREB, November 12, 2018 - The leader of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ BiH) Dragan Čović and Milorad Dodik, leader of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), confirmed on Monday that their two parties representing Bosnian Croats and Serbs would continue their cooperation and form a coalition once the country's new government was established in line with the result of elections held in early October.

Čović and Dodik led their parties' delegations at talks held in the eastern part of Sarajevo today, after which they told reporters that they had agreed to form a coalition and define joint policies in the next four-year period.

Čović said that he wanted his party's cooperation with the SNSD to be stepped up, identifying as the main task the need to change the election law so that one ethnic group can no longer elect government representatives for another ethnic group.

Even though he lost the elections for the Croat member of the country's collective state presidency, Čović said that he was satisfied because the HDZ BiH had achieved "excellent results", which meant that it could not be left out of talks on the formation of the new government.

He confirmed that his party would launch talks with all Bosniak parties so as to define what kind of majority was possible to establish, since it was still not clear what the ruling coalition in the Croat-Muslim Federation entity would look like, where the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) are vying for government positions.

Dodik commended Čović for his "constructive approach" to their cooperation in past years, not hiding his satisfaction that the cooperation would continue. He added that the two parties would offer one another proportionate participation in entity governments.

Dodik said that the purpose of the agreed joint policies was to make Bosnia and Herzegovina a candidate for EU membership as soon as possible, strengthen the country's sovereignty by closing down the Office of the High Representative and removing foreign judges from the Constitutional Court, and adopt a new election law that would eliminate the possibility of abuse, which, he said, had occurred in the past.

Dodik said that the process of forming the government would start in the Serb entity next week and that he expected it to be completed by early December. He also confirmed that his SNSD party was interested in participating in the government of the Federation entity if possible, through partnership with the HDZ BiH. He said that the cooperation between the HDZ BiH and the SNSD would not be to the detriment of Bosniaks, whose decision on possible coalitions is still expected.

Dodik added that the most responsibility for the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina now rested with the Bosniak political elite, who, he said, had to take care of the interests of other ethnic groups more so as to prevent the mistakes made in the former Yugoslavia.

The HDZ BiH and its coalition partners won 5 seats in the 42-seat House of Representatives of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the SNSD won six seats.

Meanwhile, Dodik has managed to cause a rift in opposition parties in the Serb entity, practically stealing one deputy from the Serb Democratic Party (SDS), which won four seats in the state parliament.

Some SDS MPs have decided to enter a coalition with Dodik at the entity level as well, so the Party of Democratic Progress (PDP) remains the only real opposition in the Serb entity, with its honorary president and outgoing State Presidency member Mladen Ivanić confirming on Monday that the party would stay in the opposition.

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ZAGREB, October 30, 2018 - The newly-elected Croat member of Bosnia and Herzegovina's tripartite presidency Željko Komšić sent a letter to EU leaders on Tuesday saying that Croatian members of the European Parliament were saying untruths about the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and accusing Croatia of "a diplomatic aggression" on Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The letter which Komšić's Democratic Front (DF) party forwarded to the media was sent to European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, and European Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn.

Komšić said that in their recent joint statement, criticising the outcome of the recent election in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatian members of the European Parliament stated "a number of untruths about the election process in Bosnia and Herzegovina."

The 11 Croatian MEPs last Thursday sent a joint letter to EU officials regarding the October 7 general election, expressing deep concern that the Croat representative in the State Presidency was elected by Bosniaks while a vast majority of Croats voted for another candidate.

Komšić said that his letter was also prompted by "an open diplomatic aggression by an EU member against Bosnia and Herzegovina."

In a recent diplomatic offensive Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenković warned before EU institutions about Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina not being equal to the other two constituent peoples after Komšić was elected to the Presidency owing to Bosniak votes. Referring to the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Komšić said that the October election was conducted in line with the existing constitution and laws even though his election is not questionable in terms of legality but in terms of legitimacy.

Komšić said that in their letter to the EU's Foreign Affairs Council, the Croatian MEPs had shown a political tendency to violate provisions of the Dayton peace agreement. "The letter by the Croatian MEPs is yet another attack by Croatia on Bosnia and Herzegovina's sovereignty, its sovereign right to decide on its election system or, more precisely, it is an act of direct interference by Croatia in Bosnia and Herzegovina's internal affairs, which is contrary both to international law and order and to usual relations between two sovereign countries," Komšić said.

Komšić went on to say that the Croatian MEPs and Croatian politicians were wrong to say that Bosnia and Herzegovina is "a state of two entities and three constituent peoples" because the preamble to the constitution, based on the Dayton agreement which put an end to the war in the country in 1995, says that Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs, as the constituent peoples, determine the country's constitution together with other ethnic groups and citizens.

"The Croatian MEPs ignore the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country of three constituent peoples as well as other citizens and other ethnic groups. Referring selectively to its constitution and only to the constituent peoples, without mentioning other ethnic groups and other citizens, promotes discrimination, and excludes other citizens and other ethnic groups as a constituent of the state," said Komšić, who, even though expected to represent Croats in the collective state presidency, promotes himself as a representative of all citizens.

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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 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 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.

ZAGREB, October 16, 2018 - Croatia's Foreign and European Affairs Minister Marija Pejčinović-Burić on Monday conveyed the concern to her counterparts in the European Union over the fact that for the third time since the conclusion of the Dayton Peace Accords, the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina were not in position to elect their legitimate representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina's tripartite presidency, the Croatian ministry said in a press release.