Bribe(mania) of the Broom-wielders: Arrests Thinned the Troika, Mistakes Piled Up, and Konaković Deceives Us Like Bad PR on Autopilot!

Analysis by the Patria Agency

How the year went, what was done or not, we witness in a series of media or social media appearances by various political actors in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Of course, this time of summing up results could not pass without a new laudatory interpretation of his own "successes" by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, otherwise the informal head of what we know as the "Troika" or a group of ideologically incompatible political parties, visibly gathered around the division of functions and seats.

In his praises, Minister Konaković, now continuously, presents a series of untruths, not to say lies, while trying to attribute all successes to himself, if what he considers a success can be treated as any positive step at all.

But, let's go in order.

Konaković boasts about the adoption of the Resolution on the Srebrenica Genocide, with which he had absolutely nothing to do, nor did he know that work was being done on it, nor did he have enough information, but the moment he got involved with his "knowledge", saying how it could be a trigger for seeking some war reparations, he almost single-handedly ruined all the efforts of those who had been working for a long time to gather enough support for the Resolution. With his reckless statements, Konaković caused more harm than contributed anything, because after his "smart" appearance, a counter-offensive started in neighboring Serbia.

If Konaković, as experienced politicians do, had kept quiet, the situation regarding the adoption of the Resolution on the Srebrenica Genocide would certainly have been a much easier and smoother activity. But it's no use, his vice called "social media" or an even worse vice "constant presence in the media" did not give him peace, so he had to say something, causing great damage to all those who silently worked diligently on the adoption of the Srebrenica Resolution.

The second untruth of Konaković, which he repeatedly states, apparently emulating Goebbels, with the idea that a lie repeated many times becomes a truth at the level of perception, concerns the story about NATO integration. Although it is known to the general public, except for the inner circle around Konaković, that the name of that famous Commission for NATO Integration was changed to the Commission for Cooperation with NATO under direct American pressure, which was resisted by the then Minister of Defense Sifet Podžić, voting against such an idea, Konaković still bills this to the previous government. Nevertheless, this new Commission for Cooperation with NATO, along with the previous Council of Ministers, regularly delivered Reform Programs to the NATO headquarters in Brussels and thus continued Bosnia and Herzegovina's path towards NATO membership.

Then comes Konaković's "never faster formed Council of Ministers" and it does not deliver a single new Reform Program for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Actually, they recently delivered the Reform Program for 2023, which is so inappropriate and ridiculous, because the Reform Program should state what Bosnia and Herzegovina will do in the next year, meaning that the Reform Program for 2023 should have stated what would be done regarding NATO integration in 2024, which has passed and nothing can be planned for that calendar year that has expired. Simply unbelievable.

About this, Konaković, of course, says not a word, and it is actually such a blunder and shame that a single text would be too little to describe it all.

Then Konaković assures us that the current government, probably he most of all, contributed to the decision of the European Council to open negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that as a result of the work of precisely them, the current government. However, the truth is somewhat different.

Let us recall how the European Commission went from 14 key priorities to 8 tasks, then to 4, then to 2, and finally the current government delivered one and a half laws, considering that sufficient for opening negotiations. If we recall what the then President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said about that decision, which is related to new geopolitical circumstances arising from Russian aggression against Ukraine, without a single word that it was due to any achievement of the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina. And to make matters worse, that one and a half (this half law refers to some new Law on the HJPC) were returned in the latest conclusions of the European Council for revision, because they were assessed as laws not in line with European standards.

The other controversial non-European law is the Law on Conflict of Interest. So, the current government not only did nothing, but even passed laws that are not in line with European standards, and Konaković even boasts about this.

Finally, Konaković says they successfully "protected the election of Vukoje" to the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while ignoring these mentioned conclusions of the European Council from December 2024, which unequivocally require fulfilling the recommendations of the Venice Commission. Perhaps Konaković does not remember that it was precisely at that time that the Venice Commission issued an opinion and recommendations on the necessary qualifications of candidates for the constitutional court, about how that same Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, like no other court, cannot be ethnically organized (let us recall the statements of Nikšić and Konaković that a Croat judge retired and that another Croat should be elected to that position).

The Troika ruined all this by electing Vukoje, not respecting the recommendations of the Venice Commission from June 2024, and still elected Marin Vukoje contrary to the recommendations of the Venice Commission, thereby perhaps permanently or long-term blocking the continuation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's path towards the European Union. As Dragan Mioković would say – job well done.

The same is true with the Law on the Court or Courts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Konaković and the Troika reduce the entire story to the issue of the seat of that appellate division, yet again there is an opinion and recommendations of the Venice Commission from March 2024, which states that the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina must not have its competencies removed and transferred to entity courts.

Whether Konaković knows anything about this is hard to say, but that he does everything contrary to what EU and NATO integration requires is clear even to the sparrows on the branch, but this self-proclaimed spin-master will convince you that he alone is right, as some kind of absolute truth, while everyone else is wrong. Oh no, Dino, not like that, not like that, as a dialogue from a famous movie goes.

Konaković said nothing, is he at all comfortable that they allowed an illegal agent of the Council of Ministers to gather the HDZ delegation in Strasbourg in an attempt to overturn the "Kovačević" judgment, which the Troika simply allowed, and should not have, nor should have allowed, if they are a pro-Bosnian and civic story. As for that Hurtić, no one can rely on him anymore, because he is not any pro-Bosnian story, but that same Hurtić is the story of whoever nominated him for minister in the Council of Ministers. The only logical conclusion is that the Troika is actively working and wants to overturn the "Kovačević" judgment in order to curry favor with the HDZ and Dragan Čović in this way as well, although there are many more who seek and expect confirmation and a positive outcome in the "Kovačević" case in Strasbourg. It is enough just to look at the media appearances of support for a positive outcome of the "Kovačević" judgment, about which the Troika constantly remains silent.

And finally, let us recall how the Troika came to power through a campaign, using various "brooms" or "they will clean them up" and so on, a series of expressions falsely dedicated to the fight against corruption, for which they blamed the previous government. Statistically speaking, more members of the Troika were arrested or suspected of corrupt and illegal acts in the past 2024 than is the case with all previous governments. Of course, Konaković does not speak about this. And how could he say anything, when it is so obvious that they sought to be in power only for the seats, and there are no greater results.
This is now an established public perception of the work of Konaković and the Troika, so the old folk saying "you can lie as much as you want, but you cannot lie forever" has become very relevant.

Because 2026 is near, and then others with brooms will come.