Zvizdić: I haven't heard a single valid argument against the work of the Council of Ministers

Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH Denis Zvizdić held a press conference today where he spoke about the current political situation in BiH, the non-adoption of the Council of Ministers' Work Report, excise taxes, relations within coalition partners, reports the Patria agency.

- I will attend the Adriatic Charter summit in Podgorica on August 2nd, along with the prime ministers of the Western Balkan countries. The topic will be Euro-Atlantic integration with a special focus on security issues, and I expect further support for BiH on the path of European integration, but I expect that the performance and results we have achieved in the past 18 months will be properly valued. There were no departures to foreign battlefields, the number of returnees was a few dozen, not a few thousand. The fight against terrorism remains a priority for the Council of Ministers of BiH; we consider it a global problem - Zvizdić said.

Zvizdić emphasized that the Council of Ministers' Work Report was rejected for purely political reasons, not because of the actual situation.

- The Council of Ministers continues to work normally and functionally, as we did today. I have not heard a single argument in the deputies' speeches regarding the Council of Ministers' Work Report. I expected a reasoned discussion, and it seems to me that we discussed melting ice, rain, and everything and anything except the Council of Ministers' Work Report. I still maintain that 2016 was the best year in the work of the Council of Ministers of BiH. SNSD and SBB aimed to reject the report, and even to hinder BiH's progress towards European integration. That coalition acted very deliberately when it came to rejecting the Report, but also to protect Mr. Špirić on the other hand - Zvizdić stated.

He also touched upon the latest statements by the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, in which he denies the Bosnian language.

- I speak the Bosnian language, and that is a message to those who dispute it. There have been many greater than Dodik who have tried to do so, and none have succeeded. I speak the language spoken by 52 percent of people who declared themselves as such in the last census.

He also touched upon Minister Ismir Jusko, whose party members, to which he also belongs, voted against the Council of Ministers' Report.

- Jusko was not present at today's meeting; his deputy was there. It is entirely justified for him to attend the next sessions. The Council of Ministers continues to work at full capacity - Zvizdić said, emphasizing that it is up to the political parties to ensure the coalition capacity for the functioning of the Council of Ministers.

He added that there will be no change in the approach to the arrangement with the IMF, and that excise taxes need to be adopted.

- The Council of Ministers will do nothing that would mean terminating the arrangement with the IMF. We will use all means to correct the injustice towards police officers who in one part of BiH have salaries 200-300 marks lower compared to another part, but that does not mean we will jeopardize the arrangement with the IMF. When we talk about the financial framework, it is not tied to the excise tax law, and the issue of the Excise Tax Law is not included in it. There are other types of revenue based on which new budgets can be created. The model we need to provide and the sources of funds that will clearly show that we have the capacity to repay already approved loans. If the entity governments have any other model, let them present it to the public. If they don't, let them say that excise taxes are the only model on the basis of which EBRD loans can be repaid - Zvizdić concluded.