PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release : 12 August 1998

ICG Examines the Divide in Croat Politics in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The 17-page paper, entitled Changing Course?: Implications of the Divide in Bosnian Croat Politics, considers Bosnian Croat politics in the run-up to September's elections and, in particular, the prospects of Kresimir Zubak's new political party.

The reintegration of Bosnia, as envisaged in the Dayton Peace Agreement, has been hindered by the persistent obstruction of the main party representing Bosnian Croats, the Croat Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZBiH). However, this hard-line approach may now be changing.

Long-standing divisions in the HDZBiH, between those who working for the consolidation of a pure Croat-inhabited territory centred on western Herzegovina and those who wish to secure the future of Croats throughout the country, have led to a split in the party and the formation of the New Croat Initiative (Nova Hrvatska inicijativa or NHI) led by the Croat member of Bosnia's collective presidency, Kresimir Zubak.

Despite Zubak's record as a leading member of the HDZBiH, his support for the reintegration of Bosnia and the return of refugees and displaced persons appears genuine.

The report analyses the causes of the split in the HDZBiH. It examines the relationship between developments in Bosnian Croat politics and the political situation in Croatia, and the influence of Croatia on the Bosnian Croat political scene.

It also considers the possible consequences of the split, and the implications for the process of Bosnia's reintegration. And it weighs the options for the international community in responding to developments in Bosnian Croat politics. The report concludes with a series of recommendations which, if heeded, could help speed implementation of the DPA.

Read the report: Changing Course?: Implications of the Divide in Bosnian Croat Politics

For further information and copies of the report, contact ICG in Sarajevo at (+387 71) 447 845, in Brussels at (+322) 502 9038, or in Washington at (+1 202) 986 9750.

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