During the three-day session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly currently being held in Dayton, organized by the United States (U.S.) Congressman Mike Turner on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement, Member of the European Parliament Zeljana Zovko also spoke – once again about what she calls the “destruction of the spirit of Dayton.”
Zovko claimed that the “spirit of Dayton was destroyed” by the fact that “the Croatian community has for the fourth time been denied the right to be represented by its legitimate representative in the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).” She also added that “Croats are being deprived of the right to diplomatic representation,” citing as an example the BiH ambassador to the U.S., Sven Alkalaj, for whom she said, “has Croatian citizenship, but has no connection with the Croatian community in BiH.”
“We are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Dayton-Paris Agreement, but at the same time we are destroying the spirit of Dayton by denying the Croatian community the right to be represented by its legitimate member in the Presidency, as well as in diplomacy,” Zovko said, speaking in English before delegates from multiple countries.
At the same time, she avoided the broader context of “legitimate representation,” which includes political agreements, democratic elections, and above all, the will of the citizens – not of party elites. She also did not address the fact that it is precisely the persistent insistence on “ethnic exclusivity” in the representation of peoples, without respecting the civic principle, that essentially undermines BiH and hinders its reform path.
It is particularly interesting that in her address, Zovko also recalled her work in the Presidency of BiH during the period when, as she said, the Office of the High Representative (OHR) of the United Nations (UN) was being closed, and that the then concept of BiH was used as a model for the mission in Cyprus. Her tone was nostalgic but without self-criticism regarding the role of nationalist politics which, paradoxically, often invoking the “spirit of Dayton,” have themselves undermined the foundations of peace.
In addition, Zovko drew a parallel with examples from North Macedonia and Kosovo, stating that in those countries, the right of communities to their own representative is respected, while in BiH, she claims, the “frustrations of the Croatian community” are being ignored.
However, the public in BiH has not failed to notice that Zovko has for years been using international forums to present BiH as a deeply dysfunctional state, while at the same time ignoring the fact that political elites from the Croatian people are indeed represented in government at all levels. The question is, therefore, whether the problem lies in representation – or in the fact that those elected are not the exact candidates favored by HDZ and Zovko.
While NATO delegates discuss today’s challenges, including the need for reforms in BiH, Zovko used the opportunity to once again impose HDZ’s narrative about “legitimacy” – without asking who those “legitimate” representatives really are, and by whose criteria such are chosen.
