On Friday, three major Bosnian Croat parties - the HDZ BiH, the HDZ 1990 and the HSP BiH - said in separate statements that it was unproductive and unacceptable to hold talks on crucial issues, such as further internal reforms, without Croat officials.
A member of the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Haris Silajdzic, leader of the Party for Bosnia-Herzegovina (SBiH), and the Bosnian Serb entity's Prime Minister, Milorad Dodik, head of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), held talks in Washington, but their meeting produced no results, which was why the U.S. Administration expressed disappointment.
The HSP BiH has sent an open letter to the U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Douglas McElhaney, protesting against the fact that there were attempts to reach a Bosniak-Serb deal on constitutional changes and police reform without Croatian political representatives.
In Bosnia-Herzegovina it is unacceptable to organise any talks of political representatives of two peoples without the engagement of representatives of the third people, as this can cause huge problems, read the letter.
The media in Croat-populated areas in Bosnia-Herzegovina also expressed surprise that there had been no Croat official at the Washington talks.
The Slobodna Bosnia weekly, that is perceived as a pro-Western newspaper, also criticised the United States for having organised the negotiations without including the Croats.
The weekly recalls that Croatia was also a signatory to the Dayton peace accords, and criticises Silajdzic's 'centralism' and Dodik's 'separatism' for what is says throws out the Bosnian Croat people from constitutional frameworks,