Croatia’s ruling Croat Democratic Union (HDZ) party said on Wednesday it will always support its sister party in Bosnia (HDZ BiH) and that it will, in the upcoming Bosnian election in October, stand behind the incumbent Croat member of the Presidency, Dragan Covic, and support his reelection.

Representatives of the Croat National Assembly, HNS, a political organisation of Croat parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina, attended the inauguration of a Bosnian Croat association, Prsten, in the central Bosnian town of Vitez.

The ceremony was also attended by the Vice-President of the Croatian Parliament and Vice-President of the Croatian HDZ, Milijan Brkic.

“The HDZ in the Republic of Croatia has and will always support their sister party in Bosnia and the HNS,” he said, adding that “the HDZ of Croatia will in the upcoming election provide maximum support to our friends from the HNS and Mr. Covic.”

Croatia must advocate for the survival of Croats in Bosnia and for them to be equal to the other two constitutional ethnic groups living in the country, he explained.

“Serbia and Russia have the right to care about Serbs in Bosnia, Turkey and Islamic countries have a right to care about Bosniak interest, therefore nobody should be angry about Croatia having to care – and it does – for the interests of the Croat people, like it or not,” Brkic said.

Covic said the HNS is trying to send a message that there is no split among the Bosnian Croats and he predicted that he will win and again represent the Croats in the country’s three-member Presidency, as well as that his party will have most of the Croat seats in the Parliament’s House of Peoples.

“This will ensure that we can care for the people,” Covic said, adding that the legitimate representative of the Croat people will be the one Croats in Bosnia elect.

Follow N1 via mobile apps for Android | iPhone/iPad | Windows| and social media on Twitter | Facebook.