Drama at the meeting, and diplomatic answers: Why are the participants of the meeting where there is no agreement being protected

The organizers of the meeting, the Delegation of the European Union and the Embassy of the United States of America in BiH, regarding the attempt by parliamentary parties to agree on amendments to the Election Law, could today be convinced that the demands and wishes of the parties are completely diametrically opposed and that agreement will be difficult to reach.

Diplomatic statements from the meeting participants do not reflect the true situation, as there were fierce clashes during the meeting. However, no one wanted to specify who was not seeking compromise.

The nearly four-hour meeting at the residence of the EU Special Representative Lars Gunnar Wigemark, although he was not present, revived old demands and the fact that no party, especially SDA and HDZ, wants to back down an inch from their demands.
As Damir Arnaut, SBB's participant in the negotiations, told reporters, SBB advocated for quality and constructive proposals again today.

When asked by journalists what was most contentious and what were the biggest obstacles to reaching a solution, he said that at this moment, due to the future continuation of negotiations and in order not to jeopardize that process, he could not speak about who it was that was hindering progress in reaching an agreement.

The mere fact, Arnaut said, that the political departments of the EU Delegation and the US Embassy are behind the organization of these negotiations speaks to the importance of the topics discussed at these meetings.

Damir Mašić, SDP's representative in the negotiations, also did not want to name those because of whom today's meeting ended without an agreement, but he said that everyone knows which party has entrenched positions.

- I think I have said enough. The positions of the SDP and DF remain the same. Given that time is running out, the question is what can be done if positions remain so rigid and everything is implemented in a way that suits one political party. If these positions do not change, I do not see that an agreement can be reached – said Mašić, not wanting to specify whether SDA or HDZ were not backing down and what the balance of power was.

Borjana Krišto, HDZ's participant in the negotiations, said that the election of the members of the Presidency of BiH and the House of Peoples of FBiH were discussed, and reiterated that amendments to the Election Law must include the implementation of the decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH.

- Today we discussed the implementation of the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH, both for the City of Mostar and in the "Ljubić" case and the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights. In that context, we discussed the election of members of the BiH Presidency, the election of the House of Peoples of FBiH, in terms of legitimate representation, solutions for the City of Mostar, and other technical improvements to the election process. We will intensify discussions in the coming period in terms of submitting proposals and seeking solutions for all of the above – said Krišto.

Damir Bećirović, DF's participant in the negotiations, emphasized that much was discussed regarding holding elections in the City of Mostar, as well as the filling of the House of Peoples.

- We agreed at least that we will continue negotiations. We will see how we get out of this, but we do not have any concrete conclusions. We have submitted our proposals and now we will continue negotiations on that – stated Bećirović.

Šefik Džaferović only stated what was discussed.

- We discussed and there is no agreement on any issue – said Džaferović.