Skopljaković's Visit to Croatian President Kept Silent: Fight for Croats or Just HDZ

ZAGREB, (Patria) - President of the Republic of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović received the president of the Croatian Party of BiH, Božo Skopljaković, and his deputy Jozo Barišić in Zagreb on Tuesday.

Skopljaković and Barišić conveyed their view of the current political situation in BiH, the position of Croats in both entities, and their perspectives on the future of BiH to the Croatian President.

On this occasion, the leaders of the Croatian Party pointed out the need to demystify the one-sided channeling of information that the Croatian state leadership primarily receives from the leaders of HDZ BiH, which completely misrepresents the position and even denies the interests of Croats in RS, as well as in a larger part of FBiH.

The leaders of the Croatian Party of BiH clearly told President Kitarović that the Election Law of BiH needs to be changed, but these changes must be fair and aligned with European, human, and democratic values, not to the detriment of Croats in a large part of BiH, as envisioned by HDZ BiH, the HS stated after the meeting with the Croatian President.

The meeting between Skopljaković and Barišić and the Croatian President was completely ignored by the Croatian media, as well as by most media in BiH, especially those controlled by HDZ. On the other hand, every meeting of Dragan Čović with representatives of the Croatian authorities attracts great attention in the same media. Many will say that the reason is that the Croatian Party is a small and non-parliamentary party, while in the case of HDZ, it is the leading party among Croats in BiH.

However, the reason lies solely in how the HS and HDZ, or rather Božo Skopljaković and Dragan Čović, view the political organization of BiH. They see it completely differently. While Dragan Čović fights exclusively for those Croats with an HDZ membership card, Božo Skopljaković believes that no distinction should be made between any person in BiH, and especially not between Croats in Mostar or Široki Brijeg and those in Novi Travnik or Derventa.

Such a view of Bosnia and Herzegovina is not exactly to the liking of the Croatian state leadership, led by Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who emphasize daily that they have no intention of interfering in the internal affairs of BiH, while at the same time not ceasing to talk about the adoption of a new Election Law. Of course, one that exclusively suits Čović and HDZ.

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović receives numerous representatives of political parties, veteran populations, and the non-governmental sector in her presidential office every day, and after the reception, statements from these meetings, as well as photos, are immediately available on the website.

The news about the meeting between the Croatian President and Skopljaković and Barišić was published several hours after the Croatian Party sent its statement about the held meeting, while photos from the meeting were not available even a day later. Coincidence or not? It's not hard to guess.

It is evident that this is an attempt to hide the truth about the political situation in BiH and the position of Croats in it. The situation is not quite as HDZ and Dragan Čović want to portray it.

That is why the visit of Božo Skopljaković to official Zagreb was deliberately kept silent.