Operation to take over the new border crossing in Bosanska Gradiška

By: Hazim Bašić

The opening of the border crossing in Bosanska Gradiška is the result of a feigned urgency that has become more important than the decisions of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The story of the urgent, self-initiated opening of the new border crossing in Bosanska Gradiška begins with a technical problem: damage to the bridge at the old border crossing. There was an alleged (self)collapse of part of the fence and sidewalk on the Bosnian side of the bridge.

A series of questions can be raised here: What caused the damage to the bridge? Who inspected the structure? Is there an official expert opinion? Did the competent institutions warn about possible problems earlier, or did the bridge only become dangerous at the moment when the political stalemate over the new crossing reached a critical point?

In organized states, technical circumstances do not serve as an excuse for suspending decisions of state institutions. On the contrary, crisis situations activate institutions that should demonstrate the existence of the state. Was the real urgency used as an argument to bypass the state? The repair of the damage could have taken a relatively short time, perhaps a few days.

The new border crossing in Bosanska Gradiška was not opened within the planned deadline because the competent authorities did not complete the legally prescribed procedures. The Management Board of the Indirect Taxation Authority (UIO) did not make a decision to put the crossing into operation. Namely, one of the members of this board, in his capacity as an expert, has been vetoing this decision for several months, demanding that the established procedures be respected.

Behind the dispute over the crossing in Bosanska Gradiška is the distribution of indirect tax revenues, settlements between entities, and millions in debts of RS to the Federation of BiH. This changes the context of the urgent opening of the new crossing. Did the urgency arise due to citizen safety or to avoid repaying debts?

Border crossings are a matter of state sovereignty, interstate traffic, customs control, and security regime. If such a facility can be opened without a decision from the competent institutions, then opportunities arise for other state procedures to be circumvented through various machinations tomorrow.

Also, the Council of Ministers of BiH did not make the necessary decision at an emergency telephone session. The legal prerequisites, therefore, were not met. Without institutional decisions, the opening of the crossing is illegal.

The approach to veto mechanisms and institutional decision-making is particularly concerning. The Bosnian legal system is complicated, slow, and often frustrating. It relies on procedures, agreements, and veto mechanisms.

If the veto was used within the legally prescribed framework, its disregard is not just a procedural problem. It becomes an attack on the very logic of the constitutional architecture. If institutional mechanisms are recognized only when they confirm the desired political outcome, then the state no longer functions according to rules but according to the principle of political force.

The lightning-fast, almost cinematic operation to take over the border crossing began around midnight the previous day (everything lasted about 18 hours in total). To allow the bridge to collapse safely, the local police moved the young people who were there to a safe distance. Early in the morning, we were met with news of damage to the bridge. Two unsuccessful emergency telephone sessions followed, of the Council of Ministers and the UIO Management Board.

Of course, everything was accompanied by numerous statements and press conferences. The state Minister of Finance (SNSD), burdened by medieval ideologies, declares a member of the UIO Management Board, an expert, to be a Muslim. And then, of course, the expert's opinion ceases to be valid, so the minister announces the forceful opening of the crossing, introducing a new legal method called 'come what may'. Because when it comes to Muslims, shooting is always an option. The opening of the bridge was announced for 6:00 PM that day.

The Deputy Minister of Security of BiH (HDZ BiH) was also ready for the undertaking, making an illegal decision to transfer traffic from the old to the new border crossing. Good coordination with the Croatian side is also evident in the statement that the Republic of Croatia is ready to deploy its border police teams on the other side of the river within two hours, who are ready for this operation. In this way, the new border crossing was illegally opened for the second time.

The first time it happened was when the attempt to open it failed, because the crossing was not ready to be opened. But the Croatian Prime Minister (HDZ) with his entourage was ready, and he still crossed our state border. Representatives of the EU in Sarajevo (which financed the construction of the new border crossing) watched everything carefully and, after the opening of the crossing, readily sent their congratulations.