Federation of BiH is a black hole of Europe into which not a single vaccine has entered

(Patria) - At today's 19th regular session of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH, SDP representative Damir Mašić leveled a series of criticisms at the leadership of the Government of the Federation of BiH, primarily concerning the procurement of vaccines for this BiH entity.

During his address, Mašić emphasized that he does not wish to criticize Goran Čerkez and Sanjin Musa in this manner, as they are, he says, the only ones currently doing the job that someone else is responsible for. On the other hand, Mašić leveled a series of criticisms at the work of Health Minister Vjekoslav Mandić and other ministers in the government.

“I do not wish to address Čerkez or Musa. These are people who today are doing a job that no one wants to do because we generally do not see the minister. I know he has health issues, but that cannot be an excuse for inaction. What we are facing is best illustrated by the picture we have today at the session. Aside from the fact that the prime minister and deputy prime minister are at trial, what about the others in this government? What is the Government of the Federation of BiH even doing on this issue?”, said Mašić.

Nevertheless, as Mašić points out, he is bothered by the fact that certain officials persistently try to defend the indefensible.

“In six years, this government has not opened a single meter of highway. The vaccination issue is much more serious. What bothered me is that you tried to defend the indefensible. You tried to find reasons why the FBiH has no vaccines, and you cited as one of the reasons that the industry has 'failed'. In some places it has, in some it hasn't. How come the industry hasn't failed in Serbia? The FBiH is a black hole in Europe into which not a single vaccine has entered. And what did land ended up in the smaller entity,” Mašić points out.

In conclusion, Mašić emphasized that he knows for certain that certain companies came forward and wanted to procure vaccines, but a final agreement was not reached for certain reasons.

“If this government had shown 2 percent of the enthusiasm it showed in procuring respirators, we would have at least some vaccines today. I ask the question, how can the RS import vaccines, but the FBiH cannot? I know for certain that certain companies came forward, but it got 'stuck' somewhere. Why are laws that enable emergency imports not being changed? We have no developed strategy. If 100,000 doses arrived in the FBiH tomorrow, we don't know which are the priority categories and within what timeframe they will be vaccinated. We don't have that plan. Serbia is not a powerful state, but it is much more organized than us. We have an incompetent Council of Ministers, a Government of the FBiH, and Prime Minister Novalić,” Mašić concluded in his address.