Krešimir Zubak

Krešimir Zubak (; born 25 January 1947) is a Bosnian Croat politician who served as the first Croat member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1996 to 1998. He previously served as the first president of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1994 to 1997.

Zubak worked as a lawyer prior to the start of the Bosnian War in 1992, when he entered into politics. After Mate Boban left the position of president of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia in 1994, Zubak succeeded him. Under Zubak, the Croatian Defence Council and the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina established peaceful relations and the Washington Agreement was signed. He would then serve as the inaugural president of the newly created Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity, before being elected to the Bosnian Presidency in the first post-war general election in September 1996. He later served as minister of Human Rights and Refugees from 2001 to 2002.

Zubak joined the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ BiH) in 1992. He left the HDZ BiH in 1998 following internal disagreements, and formed the New Croatian Initiative.

Early life and career Krešimir Zubak was born on 25 January 1947 in Doboj. He graduated from the Faculty of Law in Sarajevo in 1970. For the next few years, he worked as a lawyer in a construction company, after which he began a judicial career. Zubak started his judicial career as Deputy Public Prosecutor in Doboj, after which he became President of the District Court in Doboj. From 1980 to 1984, he was deputy minister of justice in the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. After that, Zubak was president of the High Court in Doboj until 1992.

Wartime political career

Before the start of the Bosnian War, Zubak was re-employed at the Ministry of Justice, but returned home after Serb forces attacked the village of Usora. He was severely wounded during an unsuccessful operation to liberate Doboj, that is, to occupy the strategically important Putnik Hill. The bullet went between his chest and armpits and erupted outside in the lower spine. Because of that wound, Zubak became 40% disabled, and underwent surgery at a local hospital in Tešanj. His family was soon expelled from Doboj, and he went into exile in Vodice near Šibenik, Croatia. Zubak soon went to Herzegovina, while the rest of his family, his wife and two sons, went to Zagreb, where his sons graduated with law degrees.

Post-war political career Zubak signed the Saint Petersburg Agreement with Ejup Ganić in 1996, which he considered a continuation of the previously signed Dayton Agreement. In it, Zubak and Ganić agreed on the gradual exclusion of the institutions of Herzeg-Bosnia and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was supposed to guarantee the federal character of the Federation. The agreement was criticized by former prime minister Haris Silajdžić, and it ultimately failed.

In the 1996 general election held in September, Zubak was the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ BiH) candidate for the Croat seat in the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Zubak left the HDZ BiH in 1998 and established the New Croatian Initiative (NHI). Following the 2000 parliamentary election, Zubak's NHI joined the ruling civic-unitary coalition of the Alliance for Change, led by the Social Democratic Party, where he was appointed minister of Human Rights and Refugees on 22 February 2001. Later, the Croatian National Alliance of Bosnia and Herzegovina merged in to the HDZ 1990, and the party leadership was co-opted into the HDZ 1990 leadership, while Zubak himself withdrew from further political life.

Honours and decorations International