Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Elmedin Konaković, told Fena that the proposal to allow Serbian citizens to vote in Bosnia and Herzegovina will not receive support from Bosniak ministers.
He warned that eventual organization of voting without the consent of the competent institutions will lead to measures being taken against the staff of the Embassy of Serbia in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Konaković said that the session was arranged in an unusual way, after the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Staša Košarac, asked the Chair of the Council of Ministers, Borjana Krišto, to propose an item that falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Tomorrow’s session was scheduled weirdly. Košarac asked Borjana Krišto to propose a document from my jurisdiction. The voting of Serbian citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Konaković said.
He explained that the MFA prepared the necessary material and that he first asked the ministers from the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) to unblock a dozen items from his ministry that, as he claims, have been unjustifiably blocked for months.
Among them, he stated, are decisions on purchasing properties for the diplomatic and consular network, for which budgetary funds have already been secured and necessary procedures completed, appointments of attachés in certain European countries, and determining the base salary for employees in diplomatic and consular missions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“We asked them to clear the purchase of properties for which we received budget funds and completed the procedure. They blocked the appointment of some attachés, mostly in European countries, for political reasons, as well as the base salary for employees in the DKM network. They are blocking this out of spite,” Konaković said.
He emphasized he proposed simultaneously unblocking those issues and enabling Serbian citizens to vote in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but SNSD representatives did not accept such an approach.
“We proposed to unblock all of that, to allow the voting as well. However, they decided to take another path. Tomorrow, that item will not have the support of Bosniak ministers and cannot pass,” Konaković said.
He especially warned about possible consequences if the authorities of Serbia decide to organize voting on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina without the necessary consent.
“We are entering a very dangerous precedent. If Serbia by any chance decides to organize elections without the permission of the Council of Ministers or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I informed the Serbian authorities that, in accordance with my powers, we will send the embassy staff home, everyone involved in doing that before the elections,” Konaković declared.
Konaković said he will insist on respecting prescribed procedures and laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He expressed surprise regarding the inclusion of the item on the agenda of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as he said, Košarac knew in advance that he would not have the necessary support.
Explaining why he is insisting on unblocking other items of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Konaković said that it is about regular matters that have been waiting for adoption for months.
He claims that ministries from the Bosniak people do not block items from other ministries, while the representatives of SNSD refuse to support the appointments of certain attachés, including those in Germany and the Netherlands.
“They are voting against the appointment of the attaché to the Netherlands, the attaché to Germany, and the military attaché, because someone voted for the Resolution on the Srebrenica Genocide. These are their politics of spite. Now, we have reached an item that is important to them. We are only asking that everything go through the procedure,” Konaković concluded.
The Chair of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina is scheduled for Tuesday, October 20th, after Košarac sought the review of a diplomatic note from the Embassy of Serbia requesting consent to organize voting for citizens of that country on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Košarac previously accused Konaković of obstructing the voting rights of Serbian citizens, insisting that the Council of Ministers make a decision on the matter, Klix.ba writes.
