Who is blocking the possibility for BiH citizens to travel to Turkey with an ID card, and why is Minister Konaković silent?

(Patria) - Citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina will soon be able to travel to Turkey with only their ID cards, announced Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his visit to BiH in early September 2022.

But, almost two years later, the agreement that was supposed to be signed by representatives of the Government of the Republic of Turkey and the Council of Ministers of BiH has not been ratified, and none of the authorities have deigned to explain why this is so and what happened to the document.

As a reminder, on September 6, 2022, Erdogan, together with the then members of the BiH Presidency (Milorad Dodik, Željko Komšić, and Šefik Džaferović), reached an agreement on a deal that allows citizens of BiH and Turkey to travel with an ID card without a passport from BiH to Turkey and vice versa.

"We made that decision, our foreign ministers will follow the procedures, and after that, we will travel from Turkey to BiH and from BiH to Turkey only with ID cards," Erdogan said at a joint press conference with members of the BiH Presidency.

The members of the Presidency agreed the same day that the draft of this agreement would be prepared at an emergency session of this three-member body. But what has happened since then has never been officially presented to the public in BiH.

On the other hand, Turkey did not sit idly by. The draft agreement was immediately prepared in the manner agreed upon and sent to colleagues in BiH.

"The Turkish side officially forwarded the draft agreement it prepared to the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina on September 16, 2022," was confirmed for "Nezavisne novine" from the Communications Office of the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Sarajevo.

What happened to the draft is a question that Nezavisne forwarded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH over a month ago. Despite sending several inquiries and attempts to contact Minister Elmedin Konaković, they did not receive answers to their questions.

However, as Nezavisne learns, this agreement did reach the session of the Council of Ministers of BiH. But it did not stay there long.

"We have information that it was at the session of the Council of Ministers of BiH, but that it was withdrawn until further notice," said officials from the BiH Embassy in Ankara.

Why it was withdrawn is a question to which Nezavisne did not find an answer.

Experts believe that one of the exclusive problems why this issue has not been resolved is politics, i.e., political relations in BiH, as there are frequent examples of good ideas being blocked because they do not suit one of the three sides, sometimes for no reason at all.

Commenting on the entire story, Denis Avdagić, a foreign policy analyst, says that on one hand, countries that are candidates for membership in the European Union are "expected to align their visa regime with EU neighbors," while on the other hand, countries that are "only" candidates for membership have the possibility to conduct their own visa policy.

"It is ideal for any country that wants EU membership to align or harmonize with all EU policies as soon as possible in every possible aspect. It is understandable that there is a special interest of BiH towards Turkey, which is why I believe this will remain a topic of discussion on making a decision in accordance with the interests of citizens," Avdagić said for "Nezavisne novine."

Perhaps the principle that BiH could have followed in this case is the identical example from Serbia. Namely, before Erdogan's arrival in Sarajevo in 2022, Serbia and Turkey also agreed on an agreement concerning travel with an ID card, and it was signed just a few months later and is being widely implemented.

Why that example did not help the authorities in BiH is a question that certainly needs to be addressed.

Until then, citizens of BiH with a valid ID card as a travel document can travel in the nearby region, namely to Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Albania.

"The BiH ID card cannot be used as a valid travel document when traveling to or from European Union member states, the Schengen area, or other countries with which Bosnia and Herzegovina has not signed an international agreement or treaty," explained officials from the Border Police of BiH for "Nezavisne novine."