Coalition meeting in Mostar: Čović to be joined by Dodik and the presidents of the 'trojka', budget the most important issue

(Patria) - A meeting of representatives of coalition political parties at the state level will be held at the HDZ BiH House in Mostar starting at 2:00 PM.

The president of SNSD, Milorad Dodik, and the presidents of the 'trojka' (troika), Nermin Nikšić, Elmedin Konaković, and Edin Forto, have also announced their arrival.

This meeting comes after numerous disagreements between coalition partners, and a number of issues are on the table. The most important of these is the Budget of BiH Institutions for 2024.

At the last session of the Council of Ministers of BiH, there was no Draft budget, and the Budget remains with the Ministry of Finance and Treasury. The relevant minister, Srđan Amidžić, does not want to send the budget into procedure until the issue of the distribution of excise revenue from the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH (UIO BiH) accounts is resolved. This concerns over 260 million KM. The key person in the distribution of this money is the Minister of Finance of the Federation of BiH, Toni Kraljević (HDZ BiH), who refused to agree to the distribution, considering that the Federation of BiH was disadvantaged.

However, last week, Kraljević was visited by the US Ambassador to BiH, Michael Murphy, so it will be clear today whether he managed to convince him to "back down" at the session of the UIO BiH Steering Board.

The last meeting was held on May 13, when coalition partners did not reach any agreement.

The host of the meeting, Dragan Čović, told the media that today they will see if the coalition at the state level still exists, and only then will they consider the open issues.

Čović took over the presidency of the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly in mid-June, and the continuation of the session, adjourned on March 18, was not held last week either. The Bosniak Caucus did not attend the session because the Bill on the Constitutional Court of BiH was on the agenda.

Čović warned that he does not know in which direction the situation will further develop, and that HDZ BiH will reject that law, and that they only voted to put it on the agenda.