I can say with certainty that I am the newly elected Presidency member of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and as far Zeljko Komsic is concerned, his election is legal and in accordance with Bosnia’s Constitution, the leading candidate for Bosnia’s Presidency member from among the Bosniak people, Sefik Dzaferovic told N1.

“Bosnian citizens can expect stability, strengthening of our economy and integration. Reintegration into the EU and NATO. The only way out and the only solution for our current solution is working in the interest of the state and the people living in this country,” Dzaferovic said.

Speaking about the general election results in which Zeljko Komsic won most of the votes for Bosnia’s Presidency member from among the Croat people, over the Croat leader Dragan Covic, Dzaferovic said his election was legal and in accordance with the Constitution and the Election Law.

“I call upon everyone commenting on the internal situation in the country to watch carefully what they’re saying and doing. Komsic’s election is not controversial. It’s in line with the Constitution and the state Election Law,” Dzaferovic concluded. “Covic should have thought about this four years ago because he knew he would be elected by the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) entity citizens. Zagreb shouldn’t interfere in our internal issues, because we’ll solve them ourselves. Croatia would be better off building good relations with Bosnia.”

Bosnia and Herzegovina held a general election on Sunday, October 7, where the citizens voted for three Presidency members, the state and entity parliaments and cantonal assemblies in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) entity.

According to the state election watchdog, the future three presidency members are Sefik Dzaferovic, from among the Bosniak people, Zeljko Komsic from among the Croat people and Milorad Dodik from among the Serb people.

However, Komsic’s legitimacy is contested by all the major Croat parties in the country saying that his election was not legitimate because he was not elected by Croats, but by Bosniaks.

Speaking about the President of the Republika Srpska (RS) entity, the other semi-autonomous entity within Bosnia, who won the majority vote in the general election for the Presidency member, Dzaferovic said he should respect the official positions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and one of those official positions is that Bosnia respects the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

The RS President Milorad Dodik said that when he is confirmed Presidency member, he would initiate the procedure of recognition of Crimea as the official Russian territory to which the Ukrainian Embassy to Bosnia fiercely reacted.

Asked about possible coalition partners Dzaferovic said “we’re not excluding anyone. I think we should make a stable coalition which should consist of stable parties which will reach from the cantonal to the state level. We all know what parties are these.”