Press Release
22 June 2026
To the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia and the President of the HDZ, the President of the Republic of Croatia, the President of the Croatian Parliament
To the Bishops’ Conference of BiH (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and the Croatian Bishops’ Conference
To all political parties in the Republic of Croatia
To all Croatian political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina
To the Presidency and the Main Council of the Croatian National Assembly (HNS) of BiH
To all Croatian national institutions, organisations, and associations
To all Croats in BiH, Croatia and the diaspora
We, officials at all levels of the former Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosna, gathered in the Initiative Committee for the Establishment of a Croatian Electoral Unit, address the state leadership of the Republic of Croatia, with a request for official and urgent action.
The Croatian Community, and then the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosna, functioned as a complete and legal expression of the political will of the Croatian people with all the elements of sovereign power.
On the direct order and with the political guarantee of the Republic of Croatia and President Dr. Franjo Tuđman, the leadership of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosna (HR-HB) signed the Washington Agreement. The Croats voluntarily brought their constitutional entity (HR-HB) into the new, joint Federation of BiH, under the firm condition that it be an equal constitutional community of two constituent peoples (Croats and Bosniaks) with a parity model of governance and the key, exclusive condition – that the Federation of BiH be in confederal relations with the Republic of Croatia!
The Federation of BiH thus established signs the Dayton Agreement. This agreement, Annex 4 (Constitution of BiH), confirmed the constitutional architecture with three equal constituent peoples. The Republic of Croatia, with its signature, assumed the role of guarantor for the Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ensuring that the rights introduced by the incorporation of Herceg-Bosna into the Federation would not be diminished.
Not only did the confederation not take place, but special relations with the Republic of Croatia were also not established. International governors, “high representatives,” contrary to Dayton’s name, have been implementing violent changes to the law for decades with the aim of turning the Federation of BiH into a Bosniak entity. Barry’s amendments to the Election Law and Petritsch’s amendments to the FBiH Constitution destroyed the original Washington parity and enabled the more numerous Croats to elect representatives to the House of Peoples and, on four occasions, to impose an illegitimate member of the BiH Presidency.
We support and invite everyone to support the establishment of a Croatian electoral unit in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a necessary first step to ensure full legitimate representation of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
We gave up Herzeg-Bosna for peace and equality in the Federation. If there is no equality, if there is no respect for the Washington and Dayton Agreements by our partners, then there is no respect for such a Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We demand active action from the Republic of Croatia and a return to the original principles for which the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina agreed to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Should even this last conciliatory, reasonable proposal on the establishment of an electoral unit for Croats in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina not be accepted by Bosniaks and supported by representatives of the international community, we demand that the institutions of the Republic of Croatia initiate all necessary political and legal actions to return to the “status quo ante”, to the situation before the signing of the agreement.
Our message to our partners in the Federation is clear: the time in which the larger people elect our representatives is over. If the establishment of a Croatian electoral unit in the Federation of BiH is not accepted, the Croatian people in BiH will be forced to seek other solutions to protect their own existence.
We demand that the Republic of Croatia now actively support the Croatian electoral unit in the Federation of BiH and all concrete solutions to resolve the Croatian issue in BiH. We reiterate and emphasise that the Republic of Croatia has an obligation, and not only a constitutional obligation, towards the Croats in BiH. The Republic of Croatia is a signatory to the Washington and Dayton Peace Agreements and had recommended that the Croats in BiH incorporate their entity, Herzeg Bosna, into the Federation of BiH, thereby forming the foundations of today’s Federation of BiH. We Croats in BiH agreed to this solely by trusting the Republic of Croatia’s official signature and guarantees. The Republic of Croatia, as a signatory to the agreement, has the inalienable right and duty to react to any unilateral violation, amendment, or creeping revision of the agreement’s letter. When unitary forces and parts of the international community destroy the Washington and Dayton constitutional architecture, they directly violate the international agreement in which Croatia is both a signatory and a guarantor for the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
We do not need declarative, diplomatic phrases or humanitarian aid from the Republic of Croatia.
We demand that the Republic of Croatia now actively and publicly support the Croatian constituency in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and all concrete measures to achieve a real solution to the Croatian issue in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Signatories of the Press Release for the Initiative Committee:
FORMER OFFICIALS OF THE HVO (Croatian Defence Council) and THE CROATIAN REPUBLIC OF HERCEG BOSNA
- MijoTokić HVO Tomislavgrad
2. Ante Grubišić HVO Posušje
3. Željko Glasnović, General of the HVO
4. Ivan Ivić HVO Kupres
5. Ilija Vincetić, General of the HVO
6. Tiho Majić, Brigadier of the HVO
7. Ilija Vrljić, General of the HVO
8. Miro Nikolić, General of the HVO
9. Dragan Vukić, HVO Ravno
10. Ivan Bacak, HVO Tomislavgrad
11. Mile Tomas, HVO Grude
12. Jerko Mandurić, HVO Posušje
Translated from the Croatian language by Ina Vukic
The above text is a translation by Ina Vukic from the Croatian language that the Initiative Committee for the Establishment of a Croatian Electoral Unit in Bosnia and Herzegovina sent on June 22, 2026 to the highest government institutions in Croatia, the bishops’ conferences of Croatia and BiH, political parties in Croatia and BiH, the Croatian National Assembly of BiH and various Croatian “national institutions, organisations and associations”, as well as “to all Croats in BiH, Croatia and the diaspora.
Croatian language version click HERE
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