The candidate of the Democratic Front for the member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) from among the Croat people at the 2026 General Elections will be Slaven Kovacevic. This is also the first official candidacy for the upcoming General Elections. This news has provoked a sharp reaction from political representatives of the Croat people, as well as from part of the parties of the Coalition of the Three, who claim that Kovacevic changed his ethnic affiliation during his political activity, and also point to the continuation of the unequal position of the Croat people in BiH.
Slaven Kovacevic, an adviser to the Croat member of the Presidency of BiH, Zeljko Komsic, says that he wants to continue a policy of fighting for a civic BiH. For that reason, he emphasizes, he accepted the candidacy for a member of the Presidency.
“I was a Croat, I am a Croat, and I will remain one. Is that, I ask again, a problem for someone? I participated several times in elections, if that is the identification of ethnic affiliation when you have to write what you are, and every time I said that I am a Croat and I never changed that,” says Kovacevic.
In the Croatian National Assembly, Kovacevic’s candidacy is seen as a thorn in the eye of the Croat people. They say that for 16 years, the Croat member of the Presidency has been elected by the votes of the Bosniak people. Because of that, they emphasize, a new election law is needed before the elections.
“The time has come in BiH, which should function as our homeland, as a modern European country, for the three peoples to live in full equality under the Constitution, for each of the three constituent peoples to be represented exclusively by legitimate representatives, and thus also legitimate representatives of the Croat people,” believes the president of the HNS and HDZ BiH, Dragan Covic.
Warnings about the consequences are coming from the HDZ’s coalition partner, the party People and Justice (NiP).
“Now we can expect campaigns again, by Zeljana Zovko and Max Primorac and the entire HDZ, who will speak out and build their political campaign for the next elections on this, which is why it is good that things are coming out into the open,” believes the president of NiP, Elmedin Konakovic.
In NiP, they point out that they had previously warned that Kovacevic changes his ethnic affiliation, although Kovacevic claims otherwise. Journalist of the Croatian Media Service, Milan Sutalo, calls on the Office of the High Representative (OHR), as well as the Central Election Commission (CEC), to react.
“I think that the CEC has the possibility here not to certify Mr. Kovacevic’s candidacy when he applies, on the basis of the fact that was presented at the European Court in Strasbourg, where in that appeal he declared himself as a Bosnian; therefore, that is sufficient proof that he cannot run for the Croat member of the Presidency,” Sutalo believes.
Through the appeal, Kovacevic attempted to prove discrimination in the election to the Presidency of BiH and the House of Peoples of those who do not belong to the constituent peoples. However, the appeal was rejected, and the court determined that Kovacevic does not have the status of a victim. Legal experts recalled that the constitutional provisions on the method of electing members of the Presidency of BiH.
“A member of the Presidency, regardless of where he comes from and which nationality he belongs to, does not represent the constituent peoples but the citizens and the entities, therefore, given that he is elected by the citizens of the entity from which he comes,” emphasizes Professor of constitutional law Davor Trlin.
Professor Trlin also emphasizes that the issue of ethnic self-identification is permitted to be changed. Along with the issue of Slaven Kovacevic’s candidacy, it should be recalled the Sejdic and Finci, Pilav, Zornic, and Pudaric rulings, which point to discrimination and the need to change the Constitution and the election law in BiH.
