Saturday, 19 February 2022

Bosnia-Herzegovina Croat Umbrella Association Convening in Mostar

ZAGREB, 19 Feb 2022 -The Croatian National Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HNS BiH)  started an extraordinary convention in Mostar on Saturday to draw up a document calling for the continuation of electoral reforms and warning that conditions have not been met for an election this autumn.

In a statement to the media prior to the convention, HNS BiH leader Dragan Čović said that the aim for Croat parties to gather was to "ensure complete constitutional equality of the Croat people with the other two constituent peoples in BiH."

"We want to make sure that Croats can elect legitimate political representatives at all levels of government in BiH," said Čović.

Asked whether HNS BiH would insist on the establishment of a third entity if the election law is not amended, Čović said that he did not wish to comment on speculation.

"Our message will be a sign of unity by representatives of the Croat people in BiH," he added.

The leader of the HDZ 1990, Ilija Cvitanović, who is also a member of the HNS BiH leadership, said that the conclusions of today's convention would be in line with the country's Constitution.

"With this, we are giving BiH a chance and offering our hand in an effort to define our relations on the basis of equality," underscored Cvitanović.

 

Tuesday, 13 July 2021

President Zoran Milanović Says Outvoting Croats in BiH Will "Come to an End"

ZAGREB, 13 July, 2021 - President Zoran Milanović on Tuesday said that outvoting Croats in elections for the collective presidency and parliament in Bosnia and Herzegovina will come to an end and that Bosniak politicians are to blame for the "misfortune in BiH".

The Bosniak member of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Presidency, Šefik Džaferović, said on Monday that Croatian pesident  was behaving like "a rude guest in someone else's house." Milanović is on a working visit to BiH and stopped in Vitez and Mostar, but not the capital of Sarajevo. Džaferović insisted that Milanović only came to BiH to cause problems and incidents.

"No, no. They are the cause of political instability, nervousness and misfortune in BiH. They are doing exactly what Haris Silajdžić warned about, 15 years ago when he said 'if you continue like that, you will make the Croats abhor this country that is their homeland'," Milanović told reporters in Livno.

Commenting on Džaferović's statement that he needn't come if he was going to behave like that, Milanović said that he was a guest in BiH to those people who welcomed him." "My hosts are the democratic authorities and the Franciscans," said Milanović.

During the three-day working visit to BiH, Milanović visited the towns mainly populated by Croats:  Vitez, Mostar, Ljubuški, Tomislavgrad and Livno. He visited the local Franciscan monasteries and said that the biggest gratitude for preserving the Croatian heritage went to the local friars.

Milanović said that the biggest problem is the outvoting of Croats and imposing Željko Komšić as the Croat member of the tripartite presidency who was voted in with Bosniak votes as well as attempts to achieve the same thing in the upper house - the House of People's in the country's parliament.

"The seats designated for Croats in the House of Peoples are being taken by people who aren't Croats or are lying that they are and they are elected by another ethnic group. That is the same template as in the presidency. The same story. And that has to come to an end," he underscored.

Asked why then he attended an SDP BiH election rally in 2010 and supported Komšić, Milanović said he was "tricked." That isn't a change in policy but rather a policy of maturing and realising someone's false nature. I haven't changed, but they are despicable," said Milanović.

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

Saturday, 13 July 2019

Government Considering Situation in Mostar-Based Aluminij Company

ZAGREB, July 13, 2019 - The Croatian government, a minority stakeholder in the Mostar-based Aluminij smelting plant, has announced consultations with the company's management and the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Federation over the debt-ridden smelter and considers that it is necessary to thoroughly change its current business model to make the company successful.

The Croatian government has a 12% stake in the plant, while Bosnia's Bosniak-Croat Federation entity is the biggest single shareholder with a 44% stake, and small shareholders hold the remaining 44%.

The Andrej Plenković cabinet today issued a press release to express its concern over the latest developments in Aluminij, which was disconnected from the power grid a few days ago over debts incurred because of high electricity and alumina prices, and the consequent discontinuation of production in the night between 9 and 10 July.

The Croatian government "expresses concern and regret at such developments in a company of strategic importance for the Croat people in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and for the economic development of the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina".

Being a minority stakeholder, the Croatian government believes that market and economically justified and competitive production in Aluminij can be accomplished only by the thorough change of the current business model of Aluminij in line with the best European business practices. For that change to be made, the support of the Federation's government is needed.

The company's management has announced filing for bankruptcy.

The Croatian government's representatives are going to hold consultations before the next stakeholders' assembly with the Bosnian Federation's authorities and the Aluminij management so as to consider possible solutions for the company's challenges.

On Thursday, hundreds of disgruntled employees of Aluminij took to the streets in Mostar to protest against the closing of the plant.

Also on Thursday, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović expressed concern over the fate of 900 workers at the Aluminij smelting plant in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and due to the escalation of the problems at that strategically important company, she requested an opinion from the Croatian government.

Aluminij is the largest company in Herzegovina with about 900 workers and a turnover of approximately 163 million euro. It was founded in 1981 and stopped operating during the 1992-1995 war. After the war it was reconstructed with the assistance of the Croatian government in 1997. Croatia owns a 12% share in the company, the government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity holds 44% of its shares and workers hold the remaining 44%.

More diaspora news can be found in the dedicated section.

Sunday, 23 December 2018

Croatian Tourist Agency Replaces Mosques with Churches on Mostar Photo

A rather bizarre act of photoshopping on a photo of ''snowy Mostar'' by a certain Croatian tourist agency, as the ancient city in Bosnia and Herzegovina has its mosques replaced with what appear to be Catholic churches.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 23rd of December, 2018, the Croatian tourist agency in question is based in Split and ironically also organises trips to Mostar and Međugorje in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country with a large Bosnian Muslim population.

The Croatian tourist agency, Adriatic travel, has rather oddly published an iconic photograph of Mostar on its website, where two photos of the old Mostar mosques, Hadži-Kurt and Nezir-agina were ''dealt with'' thanks to photoshop, seeing them replaced by the typical bell towers of Franciscan churches and cathedrals, as well as several crosses.

Several portals over in Bosnia and Herzegovina have already written about this strange act of photoshopping out Mostar's history, and the photo has been published as promotional material by the Split-based Croatian tourist agency. It appears that the tourist agency has realised they have been caught in a rather offensive act, and after a few hours, the portals in BiH reported that the weird photo had been deleted from the tourist agency's website, according to a report from Novi list.

However, despite having been removed from the agency's website, the photo is still on show at the actual address of the Croatian tourist agency itself. The Bosnians have decided to retaliate to this somewhat offensive ''deleting'' of part of Mostar's history, so they decided to be just as petty, photoshopping a well-known panorama view of Split, but instead of being able to see the tower of St. Duje dominating the landcape, they've replaced it with a mosque.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more.

Friday, 4 May 2018

Direct Zagreb-Mostar Flights Inaugurated

ZAGREB, May 4, 2018 - A Croatia Airlines plane landed at Mostar airport in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on Thursday evening, marking the introduction of direct Mostar-Zagreb flights.

Sunday, 8 April 2018

Croatian Chamber of Commerce to Open Office in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

The opening of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce in Mostar will be another step towards strengthening the export orientation of the Croatian economy, as well as long-term sustainable economic growth.

Thursday, 22 February 2018

Croatia Airlines to Introduce Regular Zagreb - Mostar Line

Good news for those wanting a quick way from Zagreb to Mostar!

Friday, 9 February 2018

Croatian Radio Television Opens Bureau in Mostar

ZAGREB, February 9, 2018 - Croatian Radio and Television (HRT) on Friday reopened its bureau in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, after a four-year break.

Wednesday, 15 November 2017

Dubrovnik Beyond Borders: British Luxury Agency Mixes Up Two Iconic Cities

A strange case of idencity theft from an agency specialising in luxury content

Wednesday, 30 August 2017

Zagreb - Mostar Flights to be Introduced in 2018?

The service should start in April 2018.

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