Bosnia should be modelled after Belgium and divided into three regions, which would enable Croats to achieve equality with other two ethnic groups, Bosniaks and Serbs, Croatian MP Miro Kovac told local media in Bosnia on Tuesday.

“Bosnia and Herzegovina could be inspired by the arrangement of Belgium, which has three language units, three regions. The same could be done in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in order to make the Croats a fully equal people with other two constituent peoples, the Bosniaks and the Serbs,” Kovac told Mostar-based Radio-Television of Herceg-Bosna.

Bosnia consists of two semi-autonomous regions, the Federation (FBiH) dominated by the Bosniaks and the Croats, and the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska. Each of the three major ethnic groups and both entities, as stipulated by the Constitution, share the power in the state-level institutions.

But, the Croat political leadership claims the equality principle is not respected, mainly in the Federation, and wants it to be implemented through various court decisions.

The stance is strongly supported by Croatia’s leadership and its ruling Croat Democratic Union (HDZ), which has a branch in Bosnia, the HDZ BiH.

Kovac, who represents HDZ in the Parliament of Croatia, said he was personally in favour of Bosnia’s reorganisation and its progress towards the Euro-Atlantic integration, in line with Belgium’s model.

Forming a Croat constituency in Bosnia would help to avoid that the Croat member in Bosnia’s tripartite Presidency is elected by votes of the Bosniaks, said Kovac. Due to its complexity, Belgium was also organised to provide equality for its three communities.

“The German language unit has its own parliament and its government. The Croats could have their own constituency and be equal with the other two peoples,” he underlined.

Centre-left candidate Zeljko Komsic defeated his opponent from the nationalist HDZ BiH, Dragan Covic, in the last general election for the position of the new Croat member of Bosnia’s Presidency.

Croat nationalist parties in the country disapprove of Komsic’s election, saying he was no elected by the Croats, therefore his election is illegitimate. However, according to the current Election Law and the Constitution, Komsic’s election was legal and constitutional.

“Croatia does not interfere with the internal matters of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Croatia signed the Dayton (Agreement, which ended the 1992-95 Bosnian war and contains the country’s Constitution) and is obliged to take care of the stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to advocate for the fulfilling of obligations referring to the Constitution,” said Kovac.