Croatian parties agree on resolution for Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, pushing for third electoral unit

After nearly a month of negotiations, Croatia's ruling HDZ party and the opposition DP party have agreed on the text of a resolution aimed at protecting Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina from being outvoted in elections for the BiH Presidency. The resolution is expected to be submitted to the Croatian Parliament soon.

The agreement, announced by DP on Facebook without revealing the full text, reportedly includes a reform of the electoral system to ensure a special electoral unit for Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This measure is intended to prevent their continued marginalization in the election of the Croatian member of the BiH Presidency. The proposed solution reportedly references a framework discussed during negotiations in Neum in 2022, which was supported by international actors and the Venice Commission as a means to satisfy European Court of Human Rights rulings.

This Neum proposal suggested that the Croatian member of the Presidency be elected by a majority vote within the Croatian electorate, effectively creating a special electoral unit, though not explicitly named as such. The Neum agreement ultimately failed due to opposition from the Bosniak side. While some within HDZ initially suggested that explicitly mentioning a special electoral unit might not be necessary, DP insisted on its inclusion in the final text presented to Parliament.

In exchange for this electoral reform, DP has withdrawn its proposal for a broad revision of Croatian citizenship for residents of BiH, which HDZ had deemed unfeasible due to constitutional requirements. The resolution also omits a specific mention of a Croatian veto on initiatives harmful to BiH Croats, a point previously raised by DP. However, it does include a call for the government to utilize all available mechanisms within the EU and international organizations to protect Croatian interests, which implicitly includes the use of veto power.

This agreement aims to resolve recent tensions between the coalition partners, which arose in early June following DP's unilateral announcement of the position paper. DP officials had also made statements referencing the return of Herceg Bosna and the concept of a confederation between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia if the third electoral unit was not established.