Čović: BiH Council of Ministers to discuss budget on Thursday, irrelevant whether you have three or four delegates in the House of Peoples

(Patria) - A meeting of BiH-level partner parties was held in Mostar today. After the meeting, Dragan Čović addressed the media exclusively, stating that this was also a request from the other partners.

The meeting was attended by RS President Milorad Dodik, Vice-Presidents Željka Cvijanović and Radovan Višković, party Secretary-General Srđan Amidžić, and member of the party's Presidency Staša Košarac on behalf of SNSD.

President Dragan Čović, Vice-President Borjana Krsto, and Vice-President Darjana Filipović attended the meeting on behalf of HDZ BiH.

The meeting was also attended by BiH SDP President Nermin Nikšić, NiP party leader Elmedin Konaković, and Our Party President Edin Forto, with their party delegations.

Čović stated that the outcome of today's meeting is a conclusion that specifies the Budget of Institutions for 2024 to be put before the BiH Council of Ministers session and adopted by both houses of the BiH Parliament through an urgent procedure.

"The conclusion relates to the budget and some things we should do in the next month. If we adopt the budget on Thursday, I think the coalition will exist. Through the conclusions, we have focused on economic issues. We must finalize this through an accelerated procedure. The BiH Presidency must be the formal proposer, but I think it will be a matter of days to finalize it," Čović said.

When asked about the impact of SNSD losing a delegate, Čović said it would have none.

"The relations in the House of Peoples are such that if you have a parliamentary majority, you have it. If a party has three or four mandates, it is completely irrelevant. If we have the agreement we have strengthened now, then we don't need to worry about someone dismissing anyone. We need an affirmative story," Čović said.

When asked about the distribution of funds, which had been discussed in recent days, the HDZ BiH president only said that at Thursday's session, the Ministry of Transport would make decisions in part, without specifying which funds were involved.

"The basis of everything is that there is no conditioning of anyone. We have done what we recognized as common ground. There are different opinions on many issues. I am convinced that in this way we will be able to make a quality step forward," Čović said.