Borjana Krišto | |||||||||||||||
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.jpg) Krišto in 2025 | |||||||||||||||
| Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina | |||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 25 January 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| President | Denis Bećirović Željka Cvijanović Željko Komšić | ||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Zoran Tegeltija | ||||||||||||||
| 8thPresident of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina | |||||||||||||||
| In office 22 February 2007 – 17 March 2011 | |||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Ahmet Hadžipašić Nedžad Branković Mustafa Mujezinović | ||||||||||||||
| Vice President | Mirsad Kebo Spomenka Mičić | ||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Niko Lozančić | ||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Živko Budimir | ||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||
| Born | Borjana Krželj[1] (1961-08-13)13 August 1961 (age 64) | ||||||||||||||
| Political party | Croatian Democratic Union (1995–present) | ||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Branko Krišto | ||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Banja Luka (LLB) | ||||||||||||||
Borjana Krišto (née Krželj;[1] born 13 August 1961) is aBosnian Croat politician serving asChairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina since January 2023. She previously served as the 8thpresident of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2007 to 2011. She is the first woman to hold both positions.
Krišto holds a degree in law from the Faculty of Law at theUniversity of Banja Luka. From 2003 to 2007, she served asFederal Minister of Justice. Following the2006 general election, she became president of theFederation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in February 2007, serving until March 2011. In June 2011, Krišto was one of the candidates for nomination to the office ofChairwoman of the Council of Ministers. Ultimately, she was not nominated.
A member of theCroatian Democratic Union since 1995, Krišto was the party's candidate for a seat in theBosnian Presidency as aCroat member in the2010 and2022 general elections. However, she failed to get elected in both elections. She was a member of both the nationalHouse of Peoples and theHouse of Representatives as well.
In January 2023, Krišto was appointed Chairwoman of theCouncil of Ministers, following the 2022 general election.
The daughter of Jože Krželj and Janja, Krišto grew up inLivno, where she graduated from the high school of economics in 1980. She then obtained a law degree from the University of Banja Luka in 1984, and passed the bar exam inSarajevo.[2]
Krišto worked in the legal departments of several companies, including "Agro Livno" (1987–1988), "Guber Livno" (1990–1991), "Likom Livno" (1991–1992) and "Livno bus" (1995–1999).[2]
Krišto entered politics in 1995, joining theCroatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina. She has been a member of the party's presidency since 2001,[3] and the deputy president since 2007.[4] Krišto served as Minister of Justice in the Government ofCanton 10 from 1999 to 2000, and later as Secretary of the Cantonal government from 2000 until 2002.[2] In the2002 general election, she was elected to theFederal House of Representatives. However, she did not become a member, as she was appointed Minister of Justice in theFederal Government.[2]
In the2006 general election, Krišto was elected to the nationalHouse of Representatives. She was also appointed as a member of the delegation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to theParliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. She resigned from both legislative posts upon her election aspresident of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the twoautonomous entities that compose Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 22 February 2007.[5] Krišto was the first woman to serve as Federal president.[6] She served as president until 17 March 2011, when she was succeeded byŽivko Budimir.[7]
In the2010 general election, Krišto ran for a seat in thePresidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina as aCroat member, but was not elected, obtaining only 19.74% of the vote, withŽeljko Komšić of theSocial Democratic Party getting elected with 60.61% of the vote.[8] Following the election, she was appointed member of the nationalHouse of Peoples.[2] In June 2011, Krišto was one of the candidates for nomination to the office ofChairwoman of the Council of Ministers. Out of three candidates, she came in third place when ranked by the Bosnian Presidency.[9]
In the2014 general election, Krišto was once again elected to the national House of Representatives. She was re-elected to office in the2018 general election.[2] The Croatian Democratic Union announced Krišto's candidacy in theBosnian general election in June 2022, running once again for Presidency member and representing the Croats.[10] In the general election, held on 2 October 2022, she failed to get elected, having obtained 44.20% of the vote. The incumbent Bosnian Croat presidency member Željko Komšić got re-elected, obtaining 55.80% of the vote.[11]
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Following the2022 general election, a coalition led by theAlliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), theCroatian Democratic Union (BiH) and the liberal allianceTroika reached an agreement on the formation of a newgovernment, designating Krišto as the newChairwoman of the Council of Ministers.[12] ThePresidency officially nominated her as chairwoman-designate on 22 December.[13]
The nationalHouse of Representatives confirmed Krišto's appointment on 28 December, making her the first female Chairwoman of theCouncil of Ministers.[14][15] On 25 January 2023, the House of Representatives confirmed the appointment of Krišto's cabinet.[16] Krišto pledged she would lead a national government that will work hard to restart delayed integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina into theEuropean Union.[17]
In January 2025, the alliance Troika announced that it was rescinding its support for the coalition with the SNSD, following the latter failing to vote for two laws concentrated onEuropean Union accession.[18] The legislation was ultimately passed with votes from the SNSD's opposition inRepublika Srpska.[19] Since then, Krišto has been accused of intentionally ignoring the appointment of Troika-backed Republika Srpska opposition politicianNebojša Vukanović as the newMinister of Security following the office's vacancy in January 2025.[20] Krišto's actions sparked up renewed stories of the SNSD's and HDZ BiH's long-standing relations.[21] Some opposition parties have called for Krišto's resignation and for avote of no confidence.[22]
In May 2023,Zoran Tegeltija, theMinister of Finance and Treasury and the Vice Chairman of the Council of Ministers, was appointed director of theIndirect Taxation Authority.[23] On 15 June 2023, he was officially confirmed as the new director, therefore resigning from Krišto's Cabinet.[24]Srđan Amidžić was appointed as the new Minister of Finance and Treasury in August 2023, following Krišto's nomination.[25] In December 2024,Nenad Nešić, the Minister of Security, was arrested, and later indicted on charges of political corruption.[26] Following the indictment, Nešić announced he was to resign as minister on 23 January 2025, marking another cabinet reshuffle.[27]
Since Nešić's resignation, opposition parties in the nationalHouse of Peoples have signed various requests for the dismissal of the remaining SNSD ministers in Krišto's cabinet.[28]
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On 16 February 2023, Krišto made her first official visit to neighbouring Croatia and met with Prime MinisterAndrej Plenković, where they discussed bilateral relations and economic cooperation between the two countries.[29] In April 2023, she met withPope Francis inVatican City.[30]
In an interview toIsrael Hayom, Krišto supported moving Bosnia and Herzegovina's embassy in Israel toJerusalem, but said that this move depended on the Bosnian Presidency.[31] With the outbreak of theGaza war in October 2023, Krišto condemnedHamas' attacks as "unjust and brutal" and expressed support for Israel.[32] She was accused by Presidency memberŽeljko Komšić for expressing her support for Israel, calling Krišto's statement "hasty and selfish".[33] Israeli ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Galit Peleg criticised Komšić's statement and defended Krišto.[34]
On 20 March 2023, Krišto went toBrussels, meeting withEuropean Council presidentCharles Michel, who she thanked for the EU's continuous support to Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Michel congratulated Krišto and her cabinet on the adoption of the Program of Economic Reforms of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period 2023–2025, which represents a strong step forward on the country's European path.[35]
In August 2023, Krišto attended theBled Strategic Forum, where she talked about Bosnia and Herzegovina's progress on its future EU accession, saying that the country "made a huge step forward in terms of harmonizing our legislation with the European Union and of course in terms of meeting the requirements of the opinion of theEuropean Commission", as well as adding that she held a series of bilateral meetings with other officials as part of the Forum.[36]
On 21 March 2024, at a summit in Brussels, all 27 EU leaders, representing the European Council, unanimously agreed to open EU accession talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Council of Ministers adopted the law on the prevention of conflict of interests and the law on anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing among other things.[37][38] Talks are set to begin following the impeding of more reforms.[38][39]
Krišto is married to Branko Krišto, a specialist inotorhinolaryngology.[2] In March 2017, she was targeted in an incident involving verbal abuse and stone throwing outside her home inLivno.[40]
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2023–present | Incumbent |
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