It was held two months ago in Zagreb Tradefest, a conference organized by the Catholic fundamentalist association "Vigilare" (headed by the notorious rightist Vice Batarel) and the American conservative The heritage foundation (connected with the MAGA movement), in which Max Primorac (an American with Herzegovinian roots close to the current US President Donald Trump) plays an important role, at which it was unanimously concluded that the Croats, as the smallest constituent nation in BiH (from pre-war 800, today they have fallen to slightly more than 300 inhabitants), can survive within a single state and preserve their national and religious identity only by establishing a so-called third entity, which should be called the Croatian Republic of BiH. Even a map with the imaginary borders of the Croatian entity in BiH was published. Translated: the restoration and revitalization of Herceg-Bosna, a parastatal creation whose formation was thought about in Zagreb and Grude and for the sake of which the fierce Croat-Bosniak military conflict broke out in 1992, is openly advocated, without any shame or wisdom. That idea was declared a "joint criminal enterprise" by the final judgment of the Hague Tribunal, on the basis of which, if it had come to life, Franjo Tuđman himself would probably have found himself in the dock before the court panel there. Let's remind: both Radovan Karadžić's Republika Srpska and Mata Boban's Herceg-Bosna (under the tutelage of Tuđman) were created during ethnic cleansing. Those two creations are a shameful symbol of nationalist pogrom and persecution.
WHOSE PERSECUTION IS IT?
At the aforementioned conference, the "unjust" Dayton Peace Agreement was blamed for the exodus of Croats from Bosnia and Herzegovina, by which Tuđman, by signing it, actually sacrificed, "sold out" the Bosnian Croats in order for the Republic of Croatia to achieve its independence and sovereignty and round off its historical borders, and precisely thanks to the existence of Herceg-Bosna and the HVO (Croatian Defense Council), the local Croats managed to resist persecution and disappearance from the area where for centuries they live. Of course, reactions (of varying intensity) were not absent in Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Belgrade, and even in Zagreb itself, and in terms of content, they mostly boil down to accusing each other of "destroying Bosnia". There are rare voices of reason like the respected Franciscan from Bosnia Srebrena, Fr. Ivo Dr. Marković, who called on all actors to get serious and not play with fire, telling them: "A third, Croatian entity is a crazy idea, how does Herceg-Bosnia differ from Republika Srpska?" Both were the result of a crime. Both Dragan Čović and Milorad Dodik are permanently destroying Bosnia and Herzegovina with their joint efforts (and different rhetoric and demagogy). Instead of building peace, they instigate dangerous conflicts almost by agreement, which, once again, the Islamic fundamentalists from the Bosniak corps deftly use to cover up their Taliban ideas and ambitions, which they count on in some new party to deal political cards.
And to this initiative, the "patriotic" Croatian political scene did not wait long for a response: Ivan Penava's Ustaše-like "Domovinski pokret" (DP), a junior partner in the government of Andrej Plenković, published a declaration in an almost identical tone on the position of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, on which the parliamentary declaration should be based if this initiative is accepted in the Croatian Parliament. Penavin DP announces that it will primarily insist on the "formation of a Croatian electoral unit within the Federation of BiH" and that before the general elections (October 4 this year) in the neighboring republic, all with the aim of representing the Croats in the Presidency of BiH by someone elected by their votes (Željko Komšić, regardless of the constitutionality/legality of his election, is not recognized as a "Croatian" representative in that body because he was also elected by Bosniak votes), and if that request is not fulfilled, then the concept should be unilaterally renewed Herceg-Bosne, whereby (of course) it is avoided to define which territory would be covered by this electoral unit. Plenković reacted indignantly, dissatisfied with the actions of the coalition partner, which went public with the initiative, without first consulting him as prime minister, even though "homeland" ministers also sit in his government. In addition, he warned Penava not to interfere in the affairs intended for the prime minister and not to mislead the public, because, as he knows very well, the Dayton Agreement, i.e. the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, can only be changed with the consent of all three constituent nations, and it does not exist, nor, by all accounts, will there be soon. Otherwise, any use of force would mean a new wave of violence, and the option of war is not excluded either, because in the new arrangement of global relations, primarily due to the unpredictable policy of Trump, war is no longer so unthinkable. Plenković sarcastically concluded that the DP's rating is so miserable that he is convinced that this initiative has a purely marketing meaning, they simply desperately need "political visibility". But let's not forget: the idea of Herceg-Bosna originally belonged to the HDZ. It was never rejected, but only put aside, and in the ranks of the ruling party, under some new leadership, and even under Plenković's, however improbable it may seem, it can easily be restored if the pragmatic Croatian prime minister, devoid of all moral scruples, assesses that only through radical moves and conversions can he stay in the seat of power. For now, Penavi responded by opening the issue of political representation of Croats outside the country (about one million Croats live abroad with the right to vote) in the Parliament, considering that the allegedly current electoral system in the Republic of Croatia is not fair to its citizens who live outside their homeland.
IN DEFENSE OF NATIONAL IDENTITY
Namely, after the constitutional changes in 2010. the number of representatives of the diaspora in Parliament is fixed at three (until then it depended on voter turnout, so it could even "throw" up to 12 seats), while the Prime Minister now proposes eight seats for representatives of the diaspora, reasoning that this will enable better communication between the motherland and emigrant communities. Of course, the essence is in the second. The rating of HDZ in the Republic of Croatia is getting more and more "fluctuating", and since the votes from the diaspora (read BiH) who always traditionally vote for HDZ can be decisive in the next elections, they should be increased as much as possible, and along the way show a patriotic charge, especially when it costs nothing. But constitutional changes require a two-thirds majority in the Parliament, and that is unavailable to Plenković and the HDZ, because the SDP and "Možemo" do not think about it at all, for completely understandable but also principled reasons. The prime minister knows that, of course, but why does he care to make a fool of himself if political profit can be made so quickly and easily. All the talk about the majority of Croats in BiH, reduced to the Bosniak policy of imposing a Croat representative in the Presidency, is pure obfuscation of the truth. It is simply about the unscrupulous, political unification of the Croatians there according to the HDZ model, that is, "spreading awareness" that the national identity is almost exclusively, with the additional care of the Catholic Church in Croats, politically designed. In fact, the issue of electoral legislation in BiH, and thus the election of a member of the Presidency, with a little good will can be easily arranged with simple legal interventions, but in doing so HDZ BiH would lose the "stick" with which it systematically defends its untouchable status of "threatened", and through that actually its exclusive, social and material privileges. After all, the real situation says something completely different: in the actual bodies of power and authority in the (Federation) of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croats, regardless of the pronounced numerical and demographic superiority of Bosniaks, have an excessive number of important positions and influential functions. Those are the facts. But, by systematically fueling the crisis, Dragan Čović modeled after the leader of the RS M. Dodika, with joint efforts, is destroying and destabilizing a unified and integral BiH, thereby (together with Dodika) preventing it from having a much-needed European perspective. Practically until yesterday, Dodik insisted on respecting the "original Dayton", whatever that meant, and Čović supported him in this because he strengthened the "Croatian" positions towards the Bosniaks, primarily towards the SDA. Now, however, the leader of the Bosnian Serbs "turns the tables" and focuses on the unsustainability of BiH's existence, seeks the independence of the RS and, when the time comes, unification with Serbia, and in the meantime, as Putin's and Vučić's player, he puts his foot in Sarajevo's efforts to get closer to Brussels. In this way, Dodik protects his wider clientelistic, but also Russian interests, combined with Vučić's ambitions to build a "Serbian world". As the departure of Kristijan Šmit, the high international commissioner in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is approaching after five years spent in Sarajevo, and in the process of searching for his successor (on which the EU and the USA cannot agree, while the Russians dispute his legitimacy and legality because he was not confirmed by the UN Security Council), there is increasing uncertainty about Bosnia and Herzegovina and its future. At the declarative level, all domestic and international political actors swear by a complete BiH, but at the same time, the Croats, looking at Zagreb, and the Serbs at Belgrade, are working on its dismantling. Only the Bosniaks, although they are not entirely innocent in these stories, have nowhere and no one to turn to for support. True, Alija Izetbegović left Bosnia and Herzegovina as a trust to Tayyip Erdogan, but Turkey is far, far away from Sarajevo and increasingly burdened by far more important and complex problems, both on the internal and foreign policy level. In the new constellation of unpredictable and complicated international and political relations in which there is increasing insecurity and uncertainty, the "Bosnian pot" is boiling again, and few people take into account that it just needs to overheat and explode.
Real journalism costs money, and we will not be bought by tycoons and corporations. Support us with a one-time or monthly donation. The time for it is now!
