Not for Conflict, Except with Komšić: Has the Opposition Quarreled Konaković and Čović with the West, or Is It Their Inaction?

Written by: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

They are quarreling with all important partners of Bosnia and Herzegovina, spreading anti-Western hysteria, and have almost destroyed friendships in the East, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH Elmedin Konaković and the leader of NIP, speaking about the opposition, primarily referring to SDA, DF, NES, and SBiH. To tell the truth, Konaković has made such claims several times, primarily referring to the criticisms that representatives of these parties direct towards the US Ambassador Michael Murphy and the High Representative Christian Schmidt.

Konaković emphasizes that he does not want a quarrel, although we understood he does not want a quarrel with Dodik and Čović, but he easily enters into a 'war' with Komšić!

Konaković did not quarrel, did not oppose, silently fulfilled everything that was asked of him, and then he received, along with the entire 'troika', a political slap from the US Embassy! The agreement from Bakinci is not something that will prosper BiH. Very precisely and clearly, the proposals contained in the document written in Laktaši on January 18 say a lot about the elections, and very little about electoral integrity. Presumably, taught by earlier events, Dodik and Čović this time recorded their partners from the Troika.

The moral of the story: be careful which wolf you feed. That could also be a message for Murphy, who believed too much in the Troika's ability to 'restrain' Milorad Dodik, not knowing that first they cannot restrain themselves among themselves, and then there is also the case of Dragan Čović.

His halting of the construction of the Southern Interconnection, which the US cares about a lot, stirred up spirits. Konaković hid the truth, saying 'the project is moving forward,' and for some time that lie was spread through the media.

Konaković did not criticize Dragan Čović for his open conflict with Murphy, nor did he say a single word that 'he is quarreling us with the West,' as he often accuses the opposition, claiming that they have no proposals for solving problems and that they only think about how to block or slow down processes.

In fact, everything that Dodik and Čović do, Konaković and his team bill to the opposition, and now that even Murphy himself has finally seen the sloppiness and much said but little done, panic has set in. You don't need to be a philosopher or a great diplomat to see that nothing has been done, and that hiding behind the opposition resembles only Vučić's method known as 'and what did they do before,' because it is simply impossible to expect the opposition to do something on the EU path, while the majority has both the necessary hands and assumed functions.

Does this mean that the opposition, by 'quarreling' with the West, has quarreled Konaković with it, or has the 'troika' become so entangled in its lies that there is nowhere to go? Again, the United States, when it gets tough, shows that it is a friend of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The United States of America notes that the only legal way to respond to the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the Presidency of BiH is through constitutional amendments!

And the reason for the meeting that the Troika is now seeking is this claim, in order to soften the 'shock and disbelief' at the US Embassy, where astonishment does not cease. The linguistic acrobatics of Dragan Čović, about some phantom election of a member of the Presidency from the Bosniak, Croatian, or Serbian people, and then through some floating 'Herceg-Bosna,' cannot be incorporated into the Election Law, because the Constitution of BiH says otherwise.

But it is a phenomenon that needs to be studied, that the Troika realizes this only when the US Embassy reacts, and does not listen to a host of legal experts, respected professors of constitutional law, and finally the opposition. No, Konaković will open a front with them, calling some bots, others obstructors of BiH's path to the EU!

Ultimately, in Brussels, they know that the Presidency of BiH has no tasks on BiH's reform path, but rather the Council of Ministers of BiH, which does nothing. Because even if someone from the Presidency of BiH requested that negotiations with BiH not be opened (which, by the way, is a lie), their wishes would not be granted, because when the Council of Ministers finishes its work, the path is open!

And, in the Council of Ministers sits Konaković and his partners who, besides recording him during negotiations, work on proposing laws that will satisfy some of their personal needs (the mandate of the director in BHANSA, employment of foreign nationals as advisors, etc.).

Obviously, an alibi is being sought for a failure already doomed in advance. And we understand that it is easier to blame Komšić, who, 'quarreling' with the West, has supposedly quarreled Konaković, Čović, and Dodik with America! The truth is much simpler than the lie they are serving us – work, because salvation is in work, not in talk!