"Croats have lived in Bosnia and Herzegovina for over a thousand years, so they're not an emigrant community," Milanovic said in an interview with the Sarajevo daily Dnevni Avaz that was published on Saturday. It was his first interview for Bosnian media since he was elected president of Croatia's strongest opposition party.
According to Croatian election rules, Croatian nationals in Bosnia and Herzegovina, most of whom are of Croatian ethnicity, are entitled to vote in Constituency 11, which is designed for the diaspora.
"They (ethnic Croats) live in Bosnia and Herzegovina and should vote for representative bodies there, but not in Croatia," the SDP leader said, adding that there was no dispute that they should have dual Bosnian and Croatian citizenship, but without the right to vote in Croatia.
Asked what he would do first with regard to Bosnia and Herzegovina if the SDP won the forthcoming election, Milanovic said that he would first visit Sarajevo and then Mostar.
"Many of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Croats live in the Mostar area and that town is a cultural and economic centre. I will speak with the Bosnian leadership in Sarajevo and go to Mostar with the message that we are open for talks and cooperation, but on a new basis. Our ties are deep and lasting, and will always be that way, but we want the Croatian people integrated into Bosnian society," Milanovic said.