ZAGREB, 5 June 2021 - Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said on Saturday that Croatia was a committed advocate of Bosnia and Herzegovina's journey towards the Euro-Atlantic institutions, and interested in enabling Croats to have an equal status with the other two constituent peoples in that country.

Addressing a conference organised in Split on the occasion of the launch of a four-volume book written by Bosnian Croat leader, Dragan Čović, the Croatian minister of foreign and European affairs said that the book testified about Čović's political struggle ad also about economic, media and diplomatic aspects of the fight for the Croatian cause.

Commenting on the developments in the last 26 years since the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords which was co-signed also by Croatia, the minister said that some aberrations, that's disrespect, for the rights had happened.

Some of international diplomats and envoys sent to Bosnia and Herzegovina changed some of the provisions of the agreement to the detriment of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, he added.

A resolution adopted by the Croat National Council (HNS) in Mostar on Friday established that it was necessary to amend the election legislation so as to ensure the legitimate representativeness of Croats at all levels of powers, he recalled.

Outvoting of Croats such was the case in the election of the Croat member of the current presidency (Željko Komšić) was against the spirit and letter of the Dayton Accords, he said.

Being a responsible member of the European Union and NATO Croatia is supposed to inform the international community of the status of the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina and about the need to amend the election legislation, as only the equitable election legislation is a guarantee of a stable, functional and prosperous Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Croatian minister said.

The four-volume book titled "Iznad Crte" ("Above the Line" in an unofficial translation"), which was presented today in Split is about the 20-year-long political activities of Čović, who currently serves s the Bosnian House of Peoples' deputy speaker.

For more on politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, Dec 12, 2020 - Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said on Friday that the amending of the Dayton Peace Accords or any strategic decisions could not be made without the consent and agreement of all the three constituent peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Dayton Agreement is what it is, and I cannot see any possibility of amending it without violence, and I do not think of a war when mentioning violence, I refer to mental violence and any other violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and everyone is aware that it could never pass in Bosnia and Herzegovina and it has always provoked a larger-scale violence, Milanovic said in an interview for the HRT broadcaster commenting on the forthcoming 25th anniversary of the conclusion of the Dayton peace accords.

He said that the Dayton agreement framework could not be amended without the will of all the three constituent peoples.

No one should have illusions that any strategic decisions could be made if there was no consent of all the three constituent peoples. This is not any medieval concept, this is a prerequisite for any civic state, the Croatian head of state said and then summarized his message this way: "First use soap and then afterwards apply perfume."

He went on to says that in the last five years only "lower-ranking clerks" from the international community had discussed the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"Those are people who are almost let loose, who are tailoring and keeping maps and pairs of compasses, sets squares, rulers in their hand, they are giving instructions on what something should look like, instead of getting their own house in order first."

He went on to say that no matter what he thought of it, the Serb entity - the Republic of Srpska - in Bosnia and Herzegovina could not be annulled.

Milanovic underscored that it was no secret that of the three constituent peoples, the Croats were dissatisfied with the current situation.

Support to any decision on purchase of multipurpose Air Force jets

President Zoran Milanovic said that he would support any decision which the Andrej Plenkovic government would made on the purchase of fighter jets, adding that he was well informed of that process.

Defence Minister Mario Banozic has recently said that the government would decide on the procurement of fighter jets at the beginning of 2021 and that a contract to that effect could be signed in late 2021. Croatia has received four offers. The United States is offering the new F-16 Block 70, Sweden is offering the new Gripen C/D model, while France and Israel are offering used aircraft - Dessault Rafale and F-16 Block 30 respectively.

Milanovic said that he had previously suggested that the most logical move could be the acceptance of the US offer, because the Americans are long-term and long-standing partners, however, they should make an effort and provide Zagreb with solid arguments for the choice of their offer in compliance with the tender.

ZAGREB, Sept 14, 2020  - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said during a visit to Mostar, south Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday that Croatia is the advocate of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croats' rights and that he expected the Dayton Peace Accords would be respected and that Croats would no longer be outvoted.

"As before, we will strongly support Bosnia and Herzegovina, develop cooperation with all three constituent peoples, with all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and be the country that supports Bosnia and Herzegovina on its way to the EU and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation," Plenkovic told a press conference following a meeting with Dragan Covic, the leader of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ BiH).

Plenkovic had arrived for the inauguration of Petar Palic as the new Bishop of Mostar-Duvno.

Asked about announcements by leading Bosniak officials that they would outvote Croats in the 2022 elections and impose lower-level officials as well, and not only the member of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Presidency, Zeljko Komsic, Plenkovic said that it was important to respect the Dayton/Paris Peace Agreement.

He said he expected that the leading Bosnian Croat party, the HDZ BiH, and the leading Bosniak party, the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), would reach an agreement on amendments to the Elections Act to put an end to the practice of outvoting Croats.

HDZ BiH leader Covic said that he had earlier warned SDA leader Bakir)Izetbegovic that the imposition of political representatives had caused problems in the past.

Commenting on the situation in South-East Europe after the election in Montenegro and the talks between Serbia and Kosovo, Plenkovic underscored that Croatia was committed to stability in all neighboring countries.

"What is important to Croatia is that there is stability, that there is peace and that tension is reduced, and that trade flows are stabilized. In all this, we take into account the Croatian minority and Croats in Serbia. We are sorry that due to division between the two Croatian parties the electoral threshold in Montenegro was not passed to obtain a seat in the parliament, a representative of the Croatian ethnic minority," Plenkovic said.

After talking with the HDZ BiH leader, Plenkovic met with Ratko Peric, the outgoing Bishop of Mostar-Duvno, and his successor, Petar Palic.

A diocesan cultural center opened in Mostar on Sunday, the construction of which was also financed by the Croatian government.

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