COLLAPSE OF DIPLOMACY: Foreign Minister Konaković Attacks the EU: They Are All Putting Us in the Same Basket, and Putin Is Defeating Them in BiH

(Patria) - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Elmedin Konaković today attacked the European Union, telling them they are showing weakness and that "Putin is defeating them in BiH."

Of Konaković's statements from last year that he needed "February and a bit of March" to resolve the removal of Milorad Dodik's cadres, only video recordings remain, serving as a reminder to Konaković of the failed adventure of ousting SNSD from state power. Nor did Konaković's numerous Brussels meetings bear fruit, so the blame for the slow EU path lies with the state government.

The only thing the Troika managed to do was to remove Nebojša Radmanović from the Collegium of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, and Darko Babalj from SDS took his place.

The removals of Staša Košarac and Srđan Amidžić were never considered at a session of the House of Peoples, given that SNSD, often supported by HDZ, would break the quorum for sessions, and then sessions would be scheduled without those removals on the agenda. Thus, ministers Košarac and Amidžić remained in the Council of Ministers, as did the deputy ministers from SNSD.

Today, Konaković did not hide his anger because the European Union "puts everyone in the same basket" when it comes to the European path, and he apparently momentarily forgot that he is the Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH, not at a party rally.

"I again criticize the European Union. Why don't they objectively speak about this problem, why do they put us all in the same basket when they know well that the obstructors are the Russian submarine SNSD and their ministers, people who flee from sessions of the House of Peoples to prevent the adoption of important European laws, and the European Union shows weakness in this process and does not show the leadership needed to stabilize European circumstances, not just those of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is expected from the EU to show the breadth they showed during the integration of some European countries into the EU. The EU so far does not show that it understands that Putin is defeating them in BiH," stated Konaković.

He said that SNSD has blocked the European path, and HDZ helped them in this because "they did not allow us to remove them where they should have been." He also reminded that the Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Borjana Krišto, has not appointed a Minister of Security.

While shifting all responsibility to SNSD and HDZ BiH, Konaković forgets that the Troika had told the public that Dodik had reformed, that he is committed to the EU path, and that they are new negotiators who know how to talk to him. And after three years in power, Bosnia and Herzegovina is at the very bottom of the EU path with all unfulfilled obligations, we have lost part of the tranche from the Growth Plan, there is no appointed chief negotiator with the EU, no progress in the area of rule of law, no adopted Law on the Court of BiH which includes an independent Appellate Court, and no new Law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council.

At the same time, the European Parliament warns that continued delays put Bosnia and Herzegovina at serious risk of being left out of the financial and reform processes through which other countries in the region are accelerating their approach to the European Union.

The European Parliament rightly emphasized that the disbursement of funds from the Growth Plan must remain strictly tied to achieving measurable results in the areas of rule of law, democratic functioning of institutions, protection of fundamental rights, and implementation of socio-economic reforms. European funds cannot be a substitute for reforms nor a reward for formally fulfilling obligations without actual implementation.