Bosnia Croats, Defying Unity With Muslims, Name Leader

Bosnian Croats named a new administration Sunday for their self-styled Bosnian state, defying international attempts to keep Bosnia’s Muslims and Croats united.

The move comes as nations involved in the NATO-led peace force try to ensure the unity of the Muslim-Croat federation in Bosnia-Herzegovina ahead of elections called for in the peace agreement forged last year in Dayton, Ohio.

Concern about the elections has centered on the Bosnian Serbs, whose two main leaders are indicted on war crimes charges. The move showed that elections may also be a problem in the 51% of Bosnia held by the Muslim-Croat federation.

The Muslim-led Bosnian government in the capital of Sarajevo, which considers the Bosnian Croat state of Herzeg-Bosna as illegitimate as the Bosnian Serbs’ Republika Srpska, said the reshuffling made a mockery of the Muslim-Croat federation.

The reshuffling is illegal because Herzeg-Bosna “does not exist under all the agreements we have,” Bosnian Prime Minister Hasan Muratovic said.

Croats in the tense city of Mostar, which is divided between Muslims and Croats, named Pero Markovic as the new president of Herzeg-Bosna, the Bosnian Croat news agency Habena reported Sunday.

The Bosnian Croat state was declared by Croatian nationalists during fighting in 1993 between Muslims and Croats. In Croat-controlled parts of Bosnia, it collects taxes, runs schools and allows use of Croatia’s currency.

But under the Dayton accord, which calls for elections in September, a Muslim-Croat federation and a Bosnian Serb state are to make up a loose confederation of Bosnia. Herzeg-Bosna is to be phased out.