Opposition criticises 'Prsten' as yet another association for promoting Dragan Čović

VITEZ, (Patria) - The founding assembly of the Association of Bosnian-Herzegovinian Croats "Prsten" was held in Vitez on Wednesday. The newly founded association represents a sister branch of the association of Bosnian Croats that has been active in the Republic of Croatia since 2005.

A large number of HDZ representatives attended the founding, while representatives of other political parties were not present, except for a few smaller ones that operate through the HNS in the service of the HDZ.

Zdenko Vukić from Travnik was elected president of the "Prsten" association, while his vice-presidents are Anto Domić from Brčko and Veseli Čule from Čitluk.

At the founding assembly, it was emphasised that the goal of the association is better connection between Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.

One of the participants and speakers at the founding assembly was also a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and president of the HDZ, Dragan Čović, who stated that "Prsten is much more than a bridge between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia".

- Prsten holds us firmly together, protects Croats in both countries and around the world. The values you have given us all are our obligation. Croatia is the first neighbour and has a special constitutional obligation towards Bosnia and Herzegovina - said Čović.

Vice-president of the Croatian Parliament Milijan Brkić also spoke exclusively about political topics in Vitez.

- Croats must choose their own representative, just as Serbia and Russia have the right to care about members of the Serbian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Just as Turkey and Islamic countries have the right to care about Bosniak interests and the interests of the Bosniak people, then no one has the right to be angry that Croatia must and does care for the interests of the Croatian people, whether they like it or not - said Milijan Brkić.

Only a day after the founding assembly of Prsten, members of opposition Croatian parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina reacted, believing that Prsten, just like some other associations such as the HNS, was founded exclusively as a means for Dragan Čović to achieve political goals, while there is no talk of the interests of the Croatian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- Once again, politics took matters into its own hands, and through the presentations of selected guests, exclusively political messages were conveyed in this pre-election period, without concrete and clear messages about investment in science or education, with the aim of stopping the emigration of Croats from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The gathering in Vitez primarily served to promote the candidates of HDZ BiH and unanimity, i.e., to obscure the conceptual divisions among Croats regarding the Election Law and the European path of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is exclusively a consequence of the gross failures of the leading Croatian party in Bosnia and Herzegovina - said the president of the Croatian Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Božo Skopljaković.

The president of the HSP, Nikola Raguž, holds a similar opinion, emphasising that it is symbolic that the association was founded only four months before the elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This shows the purpose of founding Prsten.

The opposition agrees that the role of Prsten will be no different from the role of the HNS and numerous other associations founded for the needs of promoting the policy of Dragan Čović and the HDZ.