Blockade of Bosnia's European Path: What is the Background of Čović's Obstructions and False Anger

HDZ BiH leader Dragan Čović cites as the reason for his "anger" over the agreement on the Coordination Mechanism reached on Sunday in the presence of the Head of the EU Delegation to BiH, Lars Gunner Wigemark, that the leaders of SDA and SNSD, Bakir Izetbegović and Milorad Dodik, deviated from the agreement reached two days before the talks at the Barka restaurant, and that everything was done to the detriment of the Croatian people and that "one level of government - the cantons - was omitted", writes the Patria news agency.

Čović therefore did not appear last night at the meeting agreed with Izetbegović in Konjic, to which he responded that the SDA can do this only once, in other words, deceive, which is what the HDZ leader did. Relations between the two parties are now completely disrupted, and how this will affect the further functioning of the government at all levels remains questionable. Will there be a crisis, a collapse of the coalition, blockades? All options are now open.

It is more than obvious that Čović has decided to stop Bosnia's European path. He, who on February 15 this year, as the Chairman of the Presidency of BiH, rushed to Brussels to submit a non-credible application for BiH to obtain candidate status, has now revealed his true face. He is not interested in Europe, but exclusively in his political strategy.

He has proven that in the past two years, everything in this country has been going according to his political wishes and plans, because until now he was a "peacemaker", uniting and reconciling Bosniaks among themselves, uniting Bosniaks and Serbs, selling himself as a "European and intellectual", that he is the one who broke up and created new coalitions from the cantons to the Federation of BiH, kicked out DF and brought SBB into the game, behind the backs of coalition partners SDA and SBB negotiated with Dodik in various tavern destinations, played with the Population Census...

And on top of that, as he stated about 20 days ago, in recent times, at least ten times, Dodik and he spoke with the head of Slovak diplomacy in BiH, Miroslav Lajčák, whose country currently presides over the European Union. No one reacted to this, nor asked why exactly he and Dodik meet with Lajčák and whether the answer and the real background of the blockade of the European path lie precisely in those meetings. And what they actually talked about.

Changing the text of chapters 2 and 3 of the Agreement on the Coordination Mechanism, which was adopted in January this year at the Council of Ministers of BiH, and then served him for personal promotion to go to Brussels and submit our country's application, presenting it as credible (which now proves it was all a political charade), is just an excuse for blocking Bosnia's European path.

Even with the slightly amended text of the chapters he refers to in his letters addressed to the leaders of the European Union, no one questions the role of the cantons. That the agreed Coordination Mechanism is good for this country, and that it is not detrimental to any of the peoples, is proven by the fact that all European officials, both in Brussels and in BiH, supported the Izetbegović-Dodik agreement.

The leaders of SDA and SNSD clearly defined Chapter VI, which refers to the composition of the BiH delegation within the joint bodies of BiH and the EU for monitoring the implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, and especially the decision-making method and functionality of decision-making.

It was agreed that all decisions are made by consensus, and that all institutions at all levels are obliged to ensure the presence of their representatives at the sessions of the bodies. Solutions are also provided to ensure the functionality of the Coordination Mechanism.

The quorum for holding meetings and adopting decisions in the bodies, as defined by the agreement, „is necessarily composed of authorized representatives of the Council of Ministers, the Government of the RS and the Government of the FBiH and the cantons, in accordance with the constitutional competences for the matter under consideration at the session, i.e., which is the subject of the decision.“

All decisions adopted in different bodies of the coordination system can be reviewed before a higher body in the coordination system within 10 days of their adoption, by authorized representatives of the Council of Ministers, the Government of the RS and the Government of the FBiH.

„In cases where one of the bodies in the coordination system fails to harmonize a position on a certain issue, it will be referred to a higher level in the coordination system, up to and including the College for European Integration, which meets and acts in accordance with Article 4 of this decision,“ states, among other things, in the agreement.

This eliminates any possibility that someone, whether from the state, entity or cantonal level, could block the adoption of decisions by not attending the sessions. Therefore, it is clear that Čović's uproar is not at all related to the Coordination Mechanism, but has a completely different background.

Below, read the text of the Coordination Mechanism Agreement adopted in January this year, based on which it is clearly seen that what the leaders of SDA and SNSD elaborated in more detail (slightly), i.e., the items in chapters 2 and 3 that are a "thorn in Čović's side", does not omit the role of the RS Government in deciding on important issues for BiH on the path to the EU, and eliminates any possibility of blockades or overruling.

http://www.sluzbenilist.ba/page/akt/NXT3LcpOSZ0=