Proposed Croat federal unit in Bosnia and Herzegovina
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The Croat federal unit in Bosnia and Herzegovina, or Croat entity, also informally known as the third entity (
Background
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Bosnian War and Herzeg-Bosnia
During the
Peace plans
During the Bosnian War, international mediators and envoys proposed several peace plans that included forming three federal units in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1992,
(Con)federal structure
In 1994, under the
Federation
In 2001, the
In 2005 Croat member of the country's tripartite Presidency
Another issue Croats raised is the election of
Croat political parties also complain about the lack of a public broadcasting system in Croatian, focused on the Croatian community,[20][21] as well as about unequal funding their cultural and education institutions receive in the Federation. The largest town with Croat majority, Mostar, with a sizeable Bosniak minority, has been in a gridlock since 2008 since the two communities cannot agree on the electoral rules for local elections.[22]
Dissatisfied with the representation of Croats in the Federation, Croat political parties insist on creating a Croat-majority federal unit instead of several cantons. SDA and other Bosniak parties strongly oppose this.[23] In January 2017, Croatian National Assembly stated that "if Bosnia and Herzegovina wants to become self-sustainable, then it is necessary to have an administrative-territorial reorganization, which would include a federal unit with a Croatian majority. It remains the permanent aspiration of the Croatian people of Bosnia and Herzegovina."[24]
Croatian Self-Rule
In 2000, the
Croatian Self-Rule was supposed to be a temporary solution until the controversial amendments and election rules are overturned. The attempt ended shortly after a crackdown by
Since 2001
Since 2001, various Croatian politicians and parties in different electoral cycles have proposed creating a federal unit with a Croatian majority. Sometimes, it is proposed as a federal unit within the Croat-Bosniak Federation, while others have proposed dismantling the Federation into two separate entities, Croat- and Bosniak-majority ones, respectively, and thus ending up with three entities on a national level (the third being current
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The most prominent Croatian parties (HDZ BiH,
In July 2014, the International Crisis Group published a report Bosnia's Future, among others, proposing establishing Croat entity and reorganizing the country in three entities:
There is nothing inherently wrong with a Croat entity. It would solve many problems: there would be no further need for cantons, and relations between state and entity, and between entity and municipality, could be consistent throughout Bosnia. Instead of a tangled federation of entities and peoples, the country would be a normal federation of territorial units, a design with many successful European examples. Ethnic quotas could be replaced by regional representation and protection of fundamental human rights.[28]
— International Crisis Group, Bosnia's Future
Political scientist from Macalester College and Georgetown University, Valentino Grbavac, proposed the establishment of a Croat entity in his 2016 book "Unequal democracy" as the optimal solution. He proposed assigning same powers that Republika Srpska currently holds to new Croat and Bosniak entities, possibly changing borders of municipalities to better reflect ethnic composition and turning Jajce into a Croat-Bosniak district, like Brčko today. Croat entity would also "look out for the well-being and protection of Croats in other entities," while introducing "strong legal protection" and "guarantees of rights of other nationalities" in Croat-majority entity.[29]
In his December 2016 essay in the
Constitutional principles
Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in its landmark Decision on the constituency of peoples ruled that:
Territorial delimitation [of Entities] must not serve as an instrument of ethnic segregation – on the contrary – it must accommodate ethnic groups by preserving linguistic pluralism and peace in order to contribute to the integration of the state and society as such [...] Constitutional principle of collective equality of constituent peoples, arising out of designation of Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs as constituent peoples, prohibits any special privileges for one or two constituent peoples, any domination in governmental structures and any ethnic homogenization by segregation based on territorial separation [...] [D]espite the territorial division of BiH by establishment of
constituent peoples in the Preamble of the Constitution of BiH must be understood as an all-inclusive principle of the Constitution of BiH to which the Entities must fully adhere...[32]
Territory
It is unclear what territory Croat federal unit would encompass. It is generally assumed it would comprise Croat-majority municipalities in the country, but the criteria haven't been clearly defined (whether two-thirds majority, absolute majority, or plurality would be required).[33] In some municipalities, especially in Central Bosnia, Croats have a small majority (Vitez, 55%) or just plurality (Mostar 48.4%, Busovača 49.5%). CRP's 2014 proposal assumed that in Central Bosnia, Vitez, Jajce, Busovača, Dobretići, Kiseljak, Kreševo and Novi Travnik together with the eastern, Croat-majority part of Fojnica municipality would become part of the Croat canton, while Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje, Travnik, and Mostar would be districts in Bosniak-Croat condominia.[34] However, this proposal came before the 2013 census results had been published. Contrary to the previously held assumptions, these showed that Jajce and Novi Travnik did not have Croat majority.
Some academic proposals, as well as partially CRP's 2014 proposal (with respect to Fojnica) and somewhat the proclaimed area of Croatian Self-Government in 2001 envisage changing borders of municipalities in mixed Bosniak-Croat areas (Mostar, Central Bosnia) in order to encompass larger share of Croats there.
The
Demographics
In February 2017, Croatian-language newspaper in Bosnia, Večernji list, published a proposal for a Croat entity that would include all of the Croat-majority or plurality municipalities (24 in total). Out of 497.883 Croats that live in FBiH, 372.276 or 75% would live in the Croat federal unit.[39] It would have a population of 496.385, with the ethnic breakdown as follows:[40]
- 372.276 Croats (75%)
- 111.821 Bosniaks (22.5%)
- 9.200 Serbs (1.9%)
This would make the Croat entity virtually a symmetric version of the current Federation (70% Bosniak, 22% Croat, 2% Serb). If only the western, Croat-inhabited part of Mostar municipality is included in the entity, this would reduce the number of Bosniaks in the Croat entity by roughly 45,000 and increase Croat majority to 83%. If Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje municipality would be divided into Croat- and Bosniak-majority municipalities to be added to two entities, respectively, Večernji list claims that as much as 83% of Federation's Croats would end up in the Croat federal unit.[39]
Opinion polls
Share of Croatian or overall population that believes creating a third, Croat entity would be the best solution for Bosnia and Herzegovina:
Date | Support | Pollster |
---|---|---|
November 2016 | 5% FBiH[41] | IMPAQ International |
November 2015 | 9% FBiH[42] | IMPAQ International |
June 2014 | 51% Croats[43] | National Democratic Institute |
October 2013 | 53% Croats[44] | University of Mostar |
May 2013 | 37.7% Croats 7.7% FBiH[45] |
Prism Research (Sarajevo) |
Early 2011 | 39% Croats[46] | Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
|
November 2010 | 43% Croats[47][48] | Gallup Balkan Monitor
|
August 2010 | 53% Croats 9% overall[49] |
National Democratic Institute |
October 2009 | 36% Croats 8% overall[50] |
National Democratic Institute |
September 2005 | 22% Croats[51] | Prism Research (Sarajevo) |
May 2004 | 29% Croats[52] | Prism Research (Sarajevo) |
Early 2004 | 40% Croats[53] | Early Warning Report, UNDP |
See also
- German-speaking Community of Belgium
- Székely autonomy initiatives
- Constitutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Constitutional-law position of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Proposed secession of Republika Srpska
- Bosniak Republic
- Greater Croatia
References
- ^ a b Danijal Hadžović (9 February 2017). "HDZ-OV PUCANJ U PRAZNO: Mirno spavajte, trećeg entiteta neće biti!". slobodna-bosna.ba (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 22 August 2019.
- ISSN 0376-6829. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- Security Council Report, Posted 28 April 2017
- ^ Velina Lilyanova: Bosnia and Herzegovina: Political parties, European Parliamentary Research Service - Members' Research Service, 2015, p. 2
- ^ Janko Bekić: "A Third Entity?: A Federalist Solution for Bosnia and Herzegovina's Constitutional Imbalance", Abstract, UACES 47th Annual Conference at Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland, 4–6 September 2017
- ISBN 978-0300166293.
- ^ "Balkan Report: March 17, 1999". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 11 November 2008. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
- ^ "Bosnia and Herzegovina, Freedom in the World in 2012", Freedom House
- ^ Rose, Eleanor: "Bosnian Court Ruling Lends Weight to Croat Agitation", Balkan Insight, 15 Dec 16
- ^ Staff. "Bosnia: Regionalization proposal on table". B92. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
- ^ Andrew MacDowall: "Dayton Ain’t Going Nowhere", Foreign Policy, 12 December 2015.
- ^ "News Analysis: Few surprises expected in Bosnian general elections". Xinhua. 3 October 2010. Archived from the original on 6 October 2010.
- ^ Central Electorate Commission, results in municipalities, 2010
- ^ U BiH ima 48,4 posto Bošnjaka, 32,7 posto Srba i 14, 6 posto Hrvata (Article on the preliminary report of 2013 census) Archived 31 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b International Crisis Group: Bosnia’s Future Europe, Report N°232, 10 July 2014
- ^ Vogel, T. K. (9 October 2006). "Bosnia: From the Killing Fields to the Ballot Box". The Globalist. Archived from the original on 10 October 2009. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ^ Pavić, Snježana (8 October 2010). "Nije točno da Hrvati nisu glasali za Željka Komšića, u Grudama je dobio 124 glasa". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 6 April 2013.
- ^ "Reforma Federacije uvod je u reformu izbornog procesa" (in Croatian). Dnevno. 13 May 2013. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ Foreign Policy. 30 October 2013
- ^ Rubina Čengić: "Hrvati insistiraju na svom kanalu", Nezavisne novine, 12 May 2008.
- ^ Samir Huseinović: "U Strazbur po TV-kanal na hrvatskom jeziku", Deutsche Welle, 11 June 2008.
- ^ Bevanda, 2012.
- ^ Bosnia's Future, pp. 37-8
- ^ Rose, Eleanor: "Bosniaks Slap Down Calls for Bosnian Croat Entity", Balkan Insight, 30 January 2017
- ^ CRP: Ustavne promjene u Bosni i Hercegovini Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine, September 2014.
- ^ Ustavne promjene, p. 8
- ^ "BOSNIA: 'Sanctions if no progress on reform', warns top envoy's deputy". ADN Kronos International. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
- ^ a b Bosnia's Future, p. 37
- ^ Grbavac, pp. 166–68
- ^ Less, Timothy: "Dysfunction in the Balkans", Foreign Affairs, 20 December 2016
- ^ Kanin, David B. "Doing harm", Transconflict, 28 February 2017
- ^ Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, U-5/98 (Partial Decision Part 3), para. 26, 54, 57, 60, 61, Sarajevo, 1 July 2000
- ^ Mirjana Kasapović: "PLAN BISKUPA O PREUREĐENJU BiH DOVEO BI DO RATA! Njihov prijedlog je iznimno opasan i prava je sreća da je njihova politička moć - nikakva", Globus, 24 February 2017.
- ^ CRP: Ustavne promjene u Bosni i Hercegovini Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine, p. 9 (map)
- ^ "Čović: Treći entitet će činiti Hercegovina, Posavina, srednja Bosna i Žepče", Nezavisne novine, 7 January 2017
- ^ "Cardinal: Croat entity would have to include RS territory", tanjug, b92.net, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2016
- ^ "HSS will demand re-establishment of HR- HB in case of secession of RS", fena.ba, 22 February 2017.
- ^ "Beljak u Mostaru: Hrvati Herceg-Bosne bili su na braniku Hrvatske, a ona ih je ignorirala 100 godina" Archived 23 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine, RADIO LJUBUŠKI, 22 February 2017
- ^ a b "Evo koliko bi Hrvata živjelo u većinski hrvatskoj federalnoj jedinici u BiH", vecernji.ba, 6 February 2017
- ^ "JOŠ STATISTIKE: Donosimo nacionalnu strukturu većinski hrvatskog i bošnjačkog entiteta", hms.ba, 6 February 2017
- ^ Carsimamovic Vukotic et al. (March, 2017) Findings from the National Survey of Citizens’ Perceptions in Bosnia and Herzegovina 2016, p. 25.
- ^ Ye Zhang and Naida Carsimamovic Vukotic (April, 2016) Findings from the National Survey of Citizens’ Perceptions in Bosnia and Herzegovina 2015, p. 26.
- ^ Jazvić, Dejan. "Hrvati bi htjeli treći entitet, Bošnjaci ukidanje entiteta, a Srbi status quo", Večernji list, 7 August 2014.
- ^ Jukić, Elvira: "Bosnian Croats Want Entity and TV, Poll Says", Balkan Insight, 19 December 2013
- ^ Public opinion poll results - Analitical report for Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Prism Research, 2013, pp. 41–42
- ^ Skoko, Božo. "ŠTO HRVATI, BOŠNJACI I SRBI MISLE JEDNI O DRUGIMA A ŠTO O BOSNI I HERCEGOVINI?", Ekstra, 18 April 2011.
- ^ Mabry, T. J., McGarry, J., Moore, M., & O'Leary, B. (Eds.). (2013). Divided nations and European integration. University of Pennsylvania Press., pp. 243, f5.
- ^ Bertelsmann Stiftung, BTI 2012 — Bosnia and Herzegovina Country Report. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2012., p. 6
- ^ "Public Opinion Poll Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) August 2010", p. 42
- ^ "Public opinion poll in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) October 2009", p. 37
- ^ Tuathail, G. Ó., O'Loughlin, J., & Djipa, D. (2006). Bosnia-Herzegovina ten years after Dayton: Constitutional change and public opinion. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 47(1), 61–75, p. 68
- ^ Mabry, T. J., McGarry, J., Moore, M., & O'Leary, B. (Eds.). (2013). Divided nations and European integration. University of Pennsylvania Press., pp. 243, f5.
- ^ Nations in Transit - Bosnia and Herzegovina 2005, Freedom House
Sources
- Bevanda et al.: Memorandum on Croats Position in Mostar to Spanish Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 17. rujna 2012.
- Grbavac, Valentino (2016.) Unequal Democracy: Political Position of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Institut za društveno-politička istraživanja (IDPI), Mostar
- Vukoja, Ivan i Milan Sitarski [ur.] (2016.) Bosnia and Herzegovina: FEDERALISM, EQUALITY, SUSTAINABILITY, Institut za društveno-politička istraživanja (IDPI), Mostar
- International Crisis Group: Bosnia’s Future, Europe Report N°232, 10 July 2014
Further reading
- Bieber, Florian (2001). "Croat Self-Government in Bosnia: A Challenge for Dayton?". European Centre for Minority Issues.
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(help) - Keil, Soeren (2013.) Multinational Federalism in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Farnham & Burlington, VT: Ashgate
- Listhaug, Ola i Sabrina P. Ramet [ur.]: Bosnia-Herzegovina since Dayton: civic and uncivic values, Ravenna: Longo Editore, 2013.
- Markešić, Ivan [ed.] (2010.): Hrvati u BiH: ustavni položaj, kulturni razvoj i nacionalni identitet, Zagreb: ISBN 978-953-270-044-2
- Neškoviċ, Radomir (2013). Nedovršena država : politički sistem Bosne i Hercegovine Sarajevo : ISBN 9789958884207
- Tadić, Mato (2013.): Ustavni položaj Hrvata u BiH od Washingtonskog sporazuma do danas, Mostar: ISBN 978-9958-9790-2-6
External links
- Croatian National Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, official website
- Croats (Bosnia), The Princeton Encyclopedia of Self-Determination (2010)
- IDPI institute
- Bekić, Janko. "Je li Bosna i Hercegovina sada spremna za treći, hrvatski entitet?", Jutarnji list, 14. veljače 2014.
- EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION on the 2016 Commission Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina, 6 February 2017
- "Bosnia: The problem that won't go away", The Economist