EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to visit BiH, new attempt to adopt 2025 Budget on October 15

(Patria) - An emergency session of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly has been scheduled for October 15, where the Proposal of the Law on the Budget of the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and International Obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2025, proposed by the BiH Presidency, is to be considered under urgent procedure.

At the previous emergency session of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly on September 24, the House decided not to hold a debate on the Request to consider the Proposal of the Law on the Budget of the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and International Obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2025, proposed by the BiH Presidency, under urgent legislative procedure, without the presence of representatives of the proposer.

According to the Law on Financing BiH Institutions, the Proposal of the Law on the Budget must be submitted to the legislative procedure no later than November 1. The Proposal of the Budget for 2026 should already be in preparation, which is still not the case, and there is no budget for 2025 either.

It is expected that the Budget will still be adopted by October 20, in both houses of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, as there is no more time to wait.

Due to the non-adoption of the Budget of BiH Institutions and International Obligations, the BiH Prosecutor's Office is verifying allegations from a criminal complaint filed by three trade unions (SIPA, UIO, SPS), given that 22,000 employees in BiH institutions cannot exercise the right to a salary increase due to temporary financing.

Next week, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will visit BiH, touring all Western Balkan countries. BiH adopted the Reform Agenda document on the last day of September, and now a decision from Brussels is awaited on whether the document is sufficiently aligned for us to draw funds from the Growth Plan for delegated projects.

The BiH Parliamentary Assembly has not yet adopted two laws requested by the European Commission: the Law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) and the Law on Courts (Court of BiH), which provides for the establishment of a special Appellate Division that will no longer be an integral part of the Court of BiH.

Also, the BiH Council of Ministers should appoint a chief negotiator with the EU, and an earlier agreement was reached that this should be someone from the Serbian people, because the Chair of the BiH Council of Ministers comes from the Croatian people, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs from the Bosniak people. The position of negotiator would also change in accordance with rotation in these other positions.