The 'Trojka' Ignored BiH's State Interest, Should They Also Ignore American Interest: How to Explain to Čović That the Southern Interconnection Must Pass!?

By: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

According to information from the Patria Agency, the US Ambassador to BiH Michael Murphy has requested that members of the FBiH Parliament include the Law on the Southern Interconnection on the agenda during December, regardless of the stances of HDZ BiH. In practice, this means that the outgoing Murphy is asking both the opposition and parts of the ruling coalition to be united, as otherwise, HDZ, which has blocked the Southern Interconnection project, cannot be outvoted.

As we learn, the only question is at which of the two December sessions the law will be presented to the deputies.

There is no doubt that the opposition will support this, as was stated at the meeting today. The 'Trojka' parties have also generally promised to support it, but there always remains room for Dragan Čović and his blackmail. Ultimately, Murphy himself and High Representative Christian Schmidt have enabled this.

And how did the story of the Southern Interconnection actually unfold? It was back in 2017 when the FBiH Government, at its 106th session held on June 15, 2017, unanimously adopted a Conclusion tasking BH-Gas to intensify activities on the Southern Interconnection project.

All ministers in the FBiH Government voted for that Conclusion at the time, regardless of their party or national affiliation. This certainly includes ministers from HDZ BiH, who were exclusively IN FAVOR from 2017 to 2022, until Dragan Čović disliked the 'valves' (that he could shut off gas to Sarajevo) and the formation of a separate company where he could employ people!

The problem arose the moment amendments to the Law on the Southern Interconnection were submitted, demanding the deletion of BH-Gas from the law and its replacement with a new company, 'Southern Gas Interconnection'. The Croatian National Assembly also resolved this issue through a declaration, stating that this connection is of national interest to the Croatian people.

And that the 'Trojka' is willing to support these Croatian national interests was shown by Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić, who withdrew all laws, including the Law on the Southern Interconnection, and the relevant ministers will decide whether and in what form to reintroduce the laws to the FBiH Parliament. Will Murphy's request embolden them, and does Nikšić dare to go against Dragan Čović's will?

We remind you that not even Antony Blinken's letter swayed the FBiH Government to speed up processes in this important project.

One thing is certain, the previously proposed law on the Southern Interconnection, which was adopted by the House of Representatives, has not been returned in its identical form so far, and the problem is also that the Southern Interconnection is linked to the Eastern one.

We remind you that Elmedin Konaković claimed that the projects would go together, but only one project – the eastern one – reached the BiH Presidency.

Neither Željko Komšić nor Denis Bećirović were prepared at the time to support the project of the New Eastern Interconnection, nor the Southern Interconnection, without the state law on gas being adopted.

However, on this issue as well, the 'Trojka' and their team should show 'compromise', and certainly not HDZ and SNSD, while the leaders of NIP and SDP assure us that all projects are desirable and in the interest of the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina. But, the interests of all BiH citizens apparently cannot come before the interests of Čović and Dodik!?

Can American interests now be more important to Nikšić and his team than those of BiH citizens, because so far they have shown that Čović's will is more important to them than the interests of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.