Bosnia Croat leader Dragan Covic reveals he will not run for Bosnia Presidency

Covic said, among other things, that - objectively - the country is in a deep crisis.

"We have had a lot of them over the past 30 years since the signing of the Dayton-Paris peace agreement (which ended the Bosnian 1992-95 war and established the constitutional order). We must not forget them, but I believed that we are wise and experienced enough, that new freshness and energy has come through young people, that we will not be concerned with ourselves in conducting politics, but that we will recognize the opportunity and the time before us; I am thinking of the European future of Bosnia and Herzegovina and all the integration that we should approach. Instead, for a year now, we have been living in an environment where we are concerned with ourselves, supporting each other and not solving any serious problems. I would say that no institution of executive and legislative power at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina is functioning at full capacity, which is not good," Covic told RTV HB.

Strengthen the partnership of Croats and Bosniaks

According to Covic, anyone making decisions instead of the Bosnian officials means - a failure.

" If in these 30 years we have not learned that Bosnia and Herzegovina is far from those who care about the geopolitical environment and stability, then we are fooling ourselves," he stressed, adding that we should not hope that someone from outside will create a new Dayton annex or correct the existing one, that is, write the BiH Constitution.

He believes that officials in BiH must do this themselves.

"First of all, strengthen the partnership and restore a new dimension in the cooperation of Bosniaks and Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Do not open up and invent new crises, new threats," underlined Covic, referring to the relations of two major ethnic groups in the Federation BiH (FBiH), one of two Bosnia's semi-autonomous regions with their own governments.

Speaking about the coalition at the FBiH level, he expressed hope that the partners would meet as early as next week "so we can have serious talks."

"Not about the Federation, because we protected that segment of the executive and legislative power for next year, but in general about how to raise Bosniak-Croat cooperation in the Federation to a higher level and thus help the functioning of Bosnia and Herzegovina ," Covic said.

Speaking about the ruling coalition at the state-level, where the Troika coalition (consisting of the Bosniak and civic political parties) and the HDZ BiH are forming the government along with the SNSD - the ruling political party in Republika Srpska, Bosnia's other, Serb-majority, entity, Covic said that the Troika made a mistake trying to throw SNSD out

In response to the journalist's remark that the Troika entered the process of ousting the SNSD from the state government unprepared, Covic said that a big mistake was made there, that it acted "partially" and that "bilateral wounds were tried to be transferred to the collective level", which, according to him, can never succeed.

Case 'Dodik': "You can't come to institutions and say you don't respect them"

Asked about the role of Milorad Dodik, the SNSD leader and now former RS President, in the current political crisis and possible scenarios for resolving it, Covic assessed that BiH is already experiencing the worst-case scenario. He explained that this is a complete blockade of cooperation between the institutions of BiH and those of Republika Srpska, which was defined in Dayton as a reality with a clear territorial, executive, legislative and judicial framework. He stressed that this fact must be respected, regardless of war scars and memories, and concluded that there is no other way but to talk. He added that the crisis must be resolved in accordance with the laws and decisions of institutions, especially judicial ones, whatever those institutions may be.

Covic said that anything else would mean anarchy, and that he has said so publicly on several occasions, as well as in comments with Dodik himself.

"You cannot come to some institutions, lead processes and when that process ends and a decision is made, some act of action, then you say I don't respect that," said Covic, presumably referring to Dodik's denial of the state-level institutions

Covic won't run for the BiH Presidency

Responding to the journalist's statement that there is still pragmatism in the politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is also shown by the relationship between HDZ BiH and the Troika at the FBiH level compared to the state level, and to the question of whether the situation in the Federation entity is stable, Covic said: "We are doing everything to make it stable in all areas of the Federation. It is not easy, but it is evidently possible."

When it comes to the state level and ongoing issues, including the electoral legislation reform, Covic said that the election campaign is already gaining momentum. "Some have been doing it for a year, some started recently, however, it's too early. This is a marathon and I'm afraid that those who sprint in the marathon will not reach the finish line. We don't worry about that," he said.

The HDZ BiH leader said that the goal is to discuss key issues well before the elections, and not just after them. "Let's know if we want BiH, if we want a European path for BiH and if we want to ensure a better arrangement in which all three peoples will feel comfortable enough to call BiH their homeland", Covic said.

Referring to the reporter's remark that there are already speculations about the names in the Bosniak electorate that could replace Zeljko Komsic, current Croat Presidency member whom Covic claims was elected by the votes of the Bosniaks - because the current law allows them so, and that even almost 99.9% of the support of the Croat electorate for HDZ BiH's Borjana Kristo was not enough, Covic replied:

"More than 180,000 votes for the current Council of Ministers Chairwoman Kristo was a message from the Croat people. And the Bosniak people will never allow that to happen again, because it would then take responsibility for the collapse of BiH, and that is the basis of everything".

Asked about his own nomination for the Presidency, Covic said:

"Certainly not. I wasn't even last time, certainly so that there is no speculation about it. But it is our responsibility to offer someone who can represent the politics of the Croat people, at the same time the Croat politics, but also the politics for BiH on the international stage, and of course that they have enough of authority and experience for that within BiH".