Emrić and Smajić reveal what is behind the amendments to the BHANSA and Civil Service Law, another harmful compromise by the 'Troika'

(Patria) - State MP Jasmin Emrić (NES) and delegate in the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliament Džemal Smajić (SBiH) held a press conference today where they warned about amendments to two laws: the Law on the Air Navigation Services Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHANSA) and the proposed amendments and additions to the Law on
Civil Service in the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

As Smajić stated, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Civil Service in the Institutions of BiH at its 35th session held on January 11, 2024, with the votes of ministers from all three constituent peoples, and sent it for regular procedure to the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"The aforementioned Bill is on the agenda of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament, scheduled for January 30, 2024, as well as the session of the House of Peoples scheduled for January 31, 2024. If these amendments are adopted in both houses, soon 34 officials of Bosnia and Herzegovina (members of the Parliamentary Assembly, members of the Presidency of BiH, the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers, ministers and deputy ministers, the governor and vice-governors of the Central Bank) will have the possibility to engage advisors who are not citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who do not have a university degree, and can be pensioners.

Since the listed officials have at least three, and some even four advisors on average, this means that more than 100 people could be engaged in advisor positions in Bosnia and Herzegovina who are not its citizens. All of them will be paid from the budget of Bosnia and Herzegovina," says Smajić.

He added that according to the laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina, this was not possible until now.

"However, a precedent was set by Nenad Nešić, the current Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who brought a certain Željko Avramović from Serbia into his cabinet at the Ministry of Security of BiH in early 2023, and has never confirmed whether he possesses citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Now, they are trying to legalize this scandalous practice and open the way for others with views on BiH like Emir Kusturica, who was Dodik's advisor, and similar individuals who hate everything Bosnian. The public must be prepared that if the Law passes, tomorrow we could expect people like Aleksandar Vulin in the institutions of BiH. Do we not have enough educated people looking for jobs, that we need foreign citizens with secondary vocational education who can even be pensioners? This is another in a series of 'compromises' by the so-called 'Troika', through which the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina are being systematically undermined. We will stop this way of working sooner or later. Those who play with the state will be held accountable, both politically and in other ways," said Smajić.

Emrić spoke about the amendments to the Law on BHANSA, headed by Dragan Čović's son-in-law, Dragan Primorac.

"These amendments also envisage the establishment of new companies, without us knowing the purpose. I want to emphasize that no law stipulates that any agency can establish a business entity. It is obvious that an attempt is being made to grant this agency a special status, just as it is exempt from audits. It is rumored in the corridors that everything is being done on the orders of Dragan Čović, and Forto is only trying to fulfill the wishes of his coalition leaders," said Emrić.

The proposed law amendments that will be presented to the BiH Parliament envisage the abolition of the limit on the number of terms for which the same person can be appointed as director and deputy director of this agency, and the same is proposed for members of the BHANSA Council. If these amendments are adopted, Primorac could remain at the head of BHANSA until retirement.