In an open letter to the EU, three former High Representatives for Bosnia have defended the election of Zeljo Komsic as Croat member of Bosnia’s presidency, and called on Brussels to respond to any outside interference with Bosnia’s politics.
Three former High Represenatives to Bosnia, Carl Bildt, Paddy Ashdown, and Christian Schwarz-Schilling, expressed their concern in an open letter to EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini on Thursday over Croatian attempts to dispute the legitimacy of the election of Zeljko Komsic as the Bosnian Croat member of the state’s tripartite presidency.
Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic have criticised the election of Komsic as the Croat representative on the three-member presidency, saying he does not represent the Bosnian Croat people, as BIRN previously reported.
Bosnian Croat parties claim that under the current rules, Bosniaks can outvote Croats based on their sheer number of voters, and thus effectively get to elect the Croat member of the presidency
According to the three former High Representatives, those against his appointment are misusing a landmark case brought by Bosnian Croat politician Bozo Ljubic, who complained in 2016 that the electoral mechanism to establish the House of Peoples in the Federation entity violated the principle of equality enshrined in the Dayton Agreement that ended the 1992-95 war in Bosnia.
The former High Representatives say this verdict is not relevant in this case, as it applies to the House of People in the Federation entity and not to the state presidency.
“The misinformed narrative about the Ljubic case is being used as an argument against the legitimately elected Croat member of Bosnian presidency, Zeljko Komsic. The HDZ representatives from Croatia, together with [Dragan] Covic, leader of the HDZ, claim the election was illegitimate and unconstitutional,” the letter notes.
The Constitutional Court ruling found that a law in the Federation entity’s constitution, which obliges its 10 cantons to put forward at least one delegate to the House of Peoples from each of the three main ethnic groups – Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats – even if there are only a handful of people from that group living in the canton, was inconsistent with the principle of equality enshrined in the state constitution.
Bildt, Ashdown, and Schwarz-Schilling reminded EU representatives that Komsic’s predecessor Covic was elected twice to the state presidency under the current electoral rules.
“It is crucial that a clear message to Bosnia is sent from the December meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council as well as to all political parties and those outside the country who interfere in internal affairs,” the letter said, referring to Croatia.
“We also urge the EU Commision to publish its opinion on Bosnia’s membership application as soon as possible. The Commission’s opinion should stress the importance of the rights of all citizens … prompting Bosnian politicians to work on advancing these rights,” they concluded.
The Balkaninsight
