Croatian Democratic Union

In a widely expected outcome, Croatia's ruling conservative party, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), emerged victorious in the parliamentary elections. However, as forecasted by pre-election polls, the HDZ falls short of securing enough seats in the Assembly to form a government independently, setting the stage for challenging negotiations with populist factions.

There will be no left-wing pre-election coalition in Croatia to counter the main ruling Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ.

This was made clear after the opposition Mozemo! [We Can!] party announced it will go alone into the next elections, rejecting a pre-election alliance with the opposition Social Democrats, SDP.

Two war victims' associations in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday urged the prime minister of the Croat- and Bosniak-dominated Federation entity, Nermin Niksic, to condemn statements made by the Federation's president Lidija Bradara and minister of culture and sport, Sanja Vlaisavljevic, claiming that they expressed support for convicted war criminals.

High Representative Christian Schmidt, who is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the peace deal that ended the Bosnian war, warned on Friday that he could intervene using his sweeping powers if politicians in the Federation entity do not find a way to implement election results and form a government in the entity.

A woman holds a picture of Alozije Stepinac at an open-air mass in Zagreb in June 2011. Photo:EPA/ANTONIO BAT.

Three war victims' associations on Monday urged Bosnia and Herzegovina's top international official, High Representative Christian Schmidt, to intervene to remove Lidija Bradara as president of the Bosniak and Croat-dominated Federation entity over her links to a war criminal who she called a "friend", N1 TV reported.

The formation of a government in the Bosniak and Croat-dominated Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the bigger of Bosnia's two entities, remains on hold since the October 2022 election, as the governing coalition that promised its quick formation falls apart. 

Bosnia and Herzegovina completed the formation of a state-level government on Wednesday, several months after the October 2022 general elections, with the approval of the new Council of Ministers led by Borjana Kristo, vice-president of the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, the main Bosnian Croat party. 

Milorad Dodik, the Bosnian Serb leader and Serbian member of the tripartite state presidency, will not be running for a second mandate in October, he has clarified.

Instead, Dodik, who has been sanctioned twice by the US and once by the UK, will be running for the post of president of Bosnia's Serb-majority entity, Republika Srpska.

The Serbian member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, Milorad Dodik, on Monday said that Bosnian Serbs will respect Sunday's agreement signed in Brussels on building a peaceful and stable Bosnia. Although the agreement is not signed or legally binding, "it will be respected on the political and moral level", he said.