Delegations of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and the Croat Democratic Union (HDZ) BiH today discussed the establishment of power at all levels in BiH, the EU and NATO path, and their cooperation.
The HDZ BiH leader Dragan Čović said after the meeting that, regarding the EU and NATO paths, he voiced HDZ’s position that this has no alternative for them, and that “it is a priority of all priorities”, Federal News Agency Fena reports.
“We need to look for solutions to make a step forward with our partners. As for the EU path, we are convinced that the candidate status should have been awarded last year. If we had changed the Election Law in April or May, it would have happened. Now, we are again facing some of the same conditions,” said president of HDZ BiH.
Likewise, he added, we believe that the activation of the Membership Action Plan should have happened in July 2018.
Asked about resolving the issue of NATO path with SNSD as a partner, Čović responded that these are issues where “partners need to set the rules of the game and seek solutions so that what is a precondition for me today would be recognized by other partners as something that we should strive together to achieve.”
The SDA President Bakir Izetbegovic once again stressed that the MAP activation through the Annual National Program does not mean instant NATO membership.
“In that sense, we have already adopted the decisions, the strategies and the laws that define these things. So, we hope that the SNSD would give up its conditioning and that, together with us, would continue to move forward. As for the NATO membership, one day we need to decide on this as well, but that day is not close yet” said Izetbegović.
He added that he expects “maturity from the third partner to find a solution that does not mean sabotaging something we already have an agreement on.”
Responding to journalists’ questions regarding election legislation, Izetbegović said that they discussed that topic as well.
“We know what the HDZ BiH wants here, and we know that what they want is in line with the verdict of the Constitutional Court, so sooner or later that issue should be resolved. We are ready to negotiate on the indirect elections on the line of what was offered by the EU at some point via Mr. File. I am not optimistic that we can finish this in a few months as we have not succeeded in doing so in the past several years,” said Izetbegović.
The HDZ BiH leader Dragan Čović said that they discussed it and are actively searching for the solutions.
“The electoral process must never again be brought into the position we had last year, so that now we have two Bosniak members of the Presidency of BiH. On the other hand, we will do everything to meet the prerequisites for a candidate status,” said Čović.
Asked when the SDA and SNSD delegations could meet, Izetbegović replied that before that meeting, a meeting at the level of party leaders would probably be held first.
“I expect from SNSD and Milorad Dodik to help find a solution to this crisis that we have at the moment,” said Izetbegović.
He added that the position of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers belongs to the SNSD, but “we have the right to demand that the decisions, strategies and laws that have been adopted earlier be respected and implemented.”
