Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Croatian ambassador to Serbia has declined to receive a protest note sent by the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it has been announced in Zagreb.

Bosnian academics bestowed the honorary Isa-bey Ishakovic award, named after the 15th-century founder of Sarajevo, on Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic on Thursday to underline the importance of good relations between Bosnia and Croatia.

Pope Francis's message of peace and tolerance drew a warm welcome on Saturday on his one-day visit to the Bosnian capital, where the main streets were lined with well-wishers and the allcity's churches rang their bells in tribute.

Bakir Izetbegovic of the Party of Democratic Action, SDA, and Zeljko Komsic of the Democratic Front, DF, on Tuesday said the crisis in the government of Bosnia's mainly Bosniak and Croat Federation entity had been resolved.

The two politicians said that problems over opposing views among coalition partners on the replacement of managers in key public companies had been overcome.

Ministers from the main Bosnian Croat party, the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, skipped the session of the Federation entity government on Thursday in a continuing dispute with coalition partners over the appointment of managers in public firms.

Bosnia's ruling coalition has effectively collapsed after the three main parties in the Federation failed to agree on the makeup of the entity's new government on Sunday. 

This development puts in question the recent agreement on the formation of the new state government, and threatens to push the country deeper into political chaos five months after the elections. 

The first official foreign visit of the new Croatian President, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, will be on March 3 to Sarajevo, where she will meet Bosnian senior officials.  
 
The planned visit is attracting attention, having in mind conflicting statements she has made about her future position on Bosnia and Herzegovina.  
 

Tough negotiating positions and maximalist demands by the leaders of the three strongest parties in Bosnia's Federation entity have scuppered the latest attempt to establish a new entity government. Party leaders pledged to reconvene negotiations at the end of the week.

Leaders of the six parties in the ruling coalition at state level in Bosnia have reported progress in talks on establishing a new Council of Ministers - in effect a state government.

Pope Francis will visit the Bosnian capital on June 6 where he will hold a mass and meet political leaders, the apostolic nuncio to Bosnia, Luigi Pezzuto, confirmed in Sarajevo on Monday.

Pope Francis himself during his sermon on Sunday broke the news about his plans to visit Sarajevo.