SDA Presidency: The "Trojka" no longer mentions NATO path, and European path is also questionable

(Patria) - The SDA Presidency adopted a series of conclusions at today's session regarding the current political situation in BiH.

The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina achieved almost no results in the first year of its mandate. The state and citizens have not benefited in any way from the work of the Council of Ministers. The only beneficiaries were SNSD and HDZ, who, thanks to the subservient attitude of the "Trojka" parties, achieved their long-term goals and interests.

The statements of the "Trojka" leaders about "Dodik having changed," "historic sessions," "new negotiators who know better than SDA and DF how to deal with Dodik and Čović," were merely cheap media spins used to justify incompetence, lack of capability, and betrayal of state interests.

After a year, it is clear to the public that the "Trojka" is incapable of dealing with the policies of SNSD and HDZ, and that this could have unforeseeable consequences for future relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as for the interests of the state and Bosniaks as the most numerous nation.

The unacceptable concessions by the "Trojka" began from the very formation of the Council of Ministers, when out of 20 positions, only five or 25 percent went to Bosniaks. This was followed by the handover of important sectors and institutions to SNSD and HDZ, at the expense of Bosniaks: almost the entire security sector, finance and the Indirect Taxation Authority, the Civil Service Agency, the Institute of Metrology, and a number of other institutions.

The data is devastating: out of a planned 50, the Council of Ministers adopted only 12 laws in a year, half of which were amendments to existing ones. Of the new laws adopted, one relates to the budget, and the other to the wine market. Out of the 12 laws adopted by the Council of Ministers, only five were passed by the BiH Parliament, while the rest were blocked by SNSD and HDZ. Not a single law proposed by the "Trojka" ministers and the Minister for Human Rights was adopted by the BiH Parliament. The Council of Ministers only works when Dodik and Čović need it to.

This is confirmed by examples such as the decision on the East and the lack of a decision on the South gas interconnection, the approval of funds for the SIPA building in Banja Luka and the lack of funds for the SIPA building in Tuzla, the approval of funds for the purchase of a building for the ITA in Banja Luka through a tender that was "drawn up" for Dodik's godfather's building, and the failure to make a decision to allocate 3.6 million KM from the budget reserve for the purchase of a helicopter. Instead, ministers from the Council of Ministers distributed this money to associations close to them without a public call.

The ruling coalition talked about the European path but failed to meet even the reduced conditions for opening negotiations with the European Union. They don't even talk about the NATO path. In 2023, the Reform Program (ANP) was not adopted, nor are there any indications of when it will happen. This halts Bosnia and Herzegovina's path to the NATO alliance.

The leaders of the "Trojka" and their partners have done nothing to ensure that the important strategy and action plan for combating corruption are adopted by the Council of Ministers, even though this is one of the conditions for Bosnia and Herzegovina's European path.

Ultimately, as the latest example confirming dysfunctionality and inaction - the Council of Ministers did not propose the state budget for 2024 within the legal deadline.

The agreement between the presidents of SNSD, HDZ, and the "Trojka" parties reached at Dodik's private estate represents a new danger to the interests of the state and Bosniaks, especially in the RS entity.

In a document titled "Agreement of the Leaders of Political Parties in BiH at the Meeting Held on January 18 in Laktaši," published by SDP President Nermin Nikšić, there are a number of controversial points. If implemented, they would cause irreparable damage, even greater than that caused by the SDP a few years ago by voting for the Law on Residence. It is particularly concerning that the "Trojka" agreed to amendments to the Election Law that introduce a "floating third entity" in the election of members of the BiH Presidency, as well as the part of the agreement to apply the experiences of Serbia in the functioning of the Central Election Commission, a country where every election leads to protests and reactions from the democratic world due to numerous irregularities.

Furthermore, by agreeing to raise the election threshold to four or five percent, they are putting Bosniaks in the RS entity in a situation where they will have representatives in only a few municipalities and jeopardize their participation in the entity assembly and the Council of Peoples, as well as the election of Bosniak deputies from the RS entity.

The "Trojka" is trying to mitigate the damage it has done to itself in public with unserious calls for meetings on constitutional reform. SDA will not participate in unserious meetings on topics of vital importance for the future of the state. The SDA Presidency also welcomes the decisions of DF, NES, and SBiH not to respond to the "Trojka's" invitation.

By agreeing to the Bakinci agreement, which resolves problems in a manner contrary to European standards and European Union guidelines, the opening of European Union negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina is seriously jeopardized.

The SDA Presidency welcomes the frequent visits and the energy invested by the leaders of the European Union and member states to help Bosnia and Herzegovina meet the minimum conditions for opening negotiations with the European Union in March of this year. Although the EU's requirements have been lowered to a minimum, the ruling coalition is unfortunately unable to meet even such conditions. The SDA Presidency calls on the ruling coalition to finally submit the laws necessary for the decision to open negotiations to parliamentary procedure. SDA will support all legal solutions in the Parliamentary Assembly that meet EU standards.

The SDA Presidency condemns the inappropriate conduct of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Andrej Plenković, and the disrespect for the institution of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a disgrace that officials from the "Trojka" participated in meetings with Plenković after he clearly showed disrespect towards the BiH Presidency, as if nothing had happened, and that some of them even justified his actions. The support that Croatia provides and can provide to Bosnia and Herzegovina on its path to the EU should be appreciated, but the leaders of the Republic of Croatia must finally learn to respect Bosnia and Herzegovina and its institutions.

The SDA Presidency considers the manner in which the FBiH Government submitted the Proposal for the FBiH Budget for 2024 to the parliamentary procedure unacceptable. Submitting the most extensive and important financial document one working day before its consideration, without leaving room for public debate and adequate analysis, shows the FBiH Government's clear intention to hide numerous controversial items contained in the Proposal for the FBiH Budget for 2024, such as non-transparent positions that raise reasonable suspicion of misuse of public funds.

The adopted FBiH Budget of 7.4 million KM is not "record-breaking," as the imposed authorities claim, given that the nominal increase compared to last year's budget is actually an additional 500 million KM that the FBiH Government intends to borrow this year.

The SDA Presidency has tasked the SDA Deputies' Club in the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament to submit the Proposal for the Law on the "South Interconnection Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia" gas pipeline to the procedure, which was previously adopted by the House of Representatives but was withdrawn from the procedure by the decision of the current FBiH Government. The adoption of this legal solution would create the prerequisites for the realization of this strategic energy project for FBiH, which, in addition to improving FBiH's energy stability, also fulfills Bosnia and Herzegovina's obligation for diversification of energy sources and supply routes.

The SDA Presidency requests information from the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina on whether it has acted on the criminal complaint against the president of the RS entity, Milorad Dodik, and other participants in the organization of the celebration of the unconstitutional holiday of January 9, and if so, in what stage that case is, it was announced from SDA.