How BiH parliamentarians waste citizens' money: Over 600,000 KM spent on travel

(Patria) - While thousands of BiH citizens struggle to make ends meet and public institutions plead for larger budgets, state-level parliamentarians spare no expense when it comes to official travel.

From December 1, 2022, to the end of March this year, representatives and delegates in the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH spent 602,905 KM on travel around the world, reports Hayat.ba.

The absolute "record holder" in terms of the amount spent on a single trip is SDP representative Rejhana Dervišević, whose trip to New York cost taxpayers 12,880 KM, of which as much as 9,929 KM was spent using a business card.

The state of Bosnia and Herzegovina - one of the poorest in Europe - financed this luxury, while schools, hospitals and social welfare institutions continue to operate under 20th-century conditions.

Significant funds were spent throughout the entire period.

In December 2022, 7,178 KM was spent, in 2023 a dizzying 284,372 KM, and by the end of March this year 269,302 KM - of which as much as 42,051 KM was spent in the first three months of 2024 alone.

Besides Dervišević, those who spent more than 10,000 KM on a trip include Denis Zvizdić (NiP) - 12,637 KM for a visit to New York in February 2023, Radovan Kovačević (SNSD) - 11,244 KM for Vancouver, and Albin Muslić (SDP) - 11,237 KM for the same trip.

Judging by the money spent, Zvizdić is the most active traveler - 43,177 KM in 2023 and a "more modest" 16,560 KM in 2024. His route: New York, Paris, Geneva, Riga, Marrakech, Brussels, Berlin, Madrid… And that's not the end. Just from per diems, Zvizdić collected over 6,000 KM.

In the race for the most expensive traveler is also Saša Magazinović (SDP) - he spent a total of 52,818 KM in 2023 and 2024. His destinations: Strasbourg, Brussels, Rabat, Paris, Yerevan, Warsaw, Kyiv and other world metropolises.

Luxury was not spared at airports either. VIP lounge services, most often used by members of the Collegium of the Parliamentary Assembly, cost 84,196 KM. Of that, 17,784 KM was spent in BiH, 22,240 KM in European capitals, and a significant portion - 13,397 dollars - in the USA.

Again, Denis Zvizdić is in focus. His trip to America in early March 2023 cost 5,631.25 dollars just for VIP services. This includes: airport accommodation (2,436 dollars), vehicle rental (2,069 dollars) and fuel and parking costs (1,126 dollars).

A month earlier, Zvizdić was in New York, and VIP lounge services cost an additional 3,131 dollars. Next is Nebojša Radmanović, who during a visit to Abu Dhabi in April 2024 spent 4,634.44 dollars for just two days of VIP lounge use.

If the list of travelers is examined in detail, it is clear that the most frequent travelers are representatives of the so-called Troika parties (SDP, NiP and Our Party). The most expensive trips were, as expected, the transoceanic ones, but no expense was spared on European, Asian and African destinations either.

BiH citizens, who month after month worry about the prices of fuel, food and utilities, rightly ask - who benefits from this "diplomacy" in business class? And what concrete benefits does the state of BiH gain from all the "learning good practices" and stays in VIP lounges at airports around the world?

In a country where luxury is allowed only for the political elite, and responsibility and modesty are forgotten words, it is clear - citizens pay the price of politics - and literally so.