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Email this citationCIAO DATE: 07/04
Turning Strife to Advantage: A Blueprint to Integrate the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina
March 15, 2001
Abstract
The current attempts by the leadership of the Croat Democratic Union (HDZ) of Bosnia and Herzegovina1 to secede from the legal and constitutional structures of the state are the most serious challenge yet to the post-war order established by the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords.
These actions are themselves a response to recent international measures that weakened the HDZ position. The international community's High Representative (OHR) in Sarajevo has taken steps, in line with his mandate to drive forward the implementation of Dayton, that cut into the HDZ' financial and political muscle. The November 2000 elections, which for the first time gave a non-nationalist coalition a plurality in the Federation and at the state level, have made it more difficult for the HDZ to influence policy-making in Sarajevo. At the same time, the government of Croatia has ended key elements of its support to Croat extremists in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
