The Need to Have Something ‘Of Their Own’: Croat Parallel Institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

The asymmetrical, federal construction of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been contested by all groups, but it has particularly influenced a significant element of Croat politics in BiH – their need to create ‘their own’ entity. Not being able to form a separate territorial unit, Croats created parallel institutions following the Herzeg-Bosna pattern: firstly in 2000, and again in 2011. This paper aims at analyzing the Croats’ autonomist and secessionist politics in Bosnia and Herzegovina with special emphasis on the formation of parallel structures as a replacement strategy derived from the Croat inability to bring about a constitutional unit of their own. Using the model suggested in the introduction to this special issue, the problem is analyzed from the perspective of center-periphery dynamics in Bosnia and answers the question as to why territorial autonomy has been an impossible goal for Croats.