The Western Balkans-European Union summit, which was to be hosted by Bosnia and Herzegovina, has been postponed. The reason – the tender for its organization was canceled. Namely, the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina was forced to suspend the public service procedure for organizing the summit because one of the companies filed an appeal against an earlier decision on the selection of the best bidder.
The organization of this important event began only in mid-October, which was clearly too late for the necessary procedures and possible appeals. A good opportunity for Bosnia and Herzegovina has thus been turned into a diplomatic fiasco that exposed the incompetence of the authorities, even in organization. Reactions are numerous. And in the ruling coalition, accusations and justifications.
“I received the news with disbelief and shock that the joint institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina managed to disgrace themselves by canceling the summit of the leaders of the Western Balkans and the European Union due to disorganization and procedural failures. This is yet another piece of evidence that political Sarajevo is not up to the responsible tasks that should be in the interest of all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Milorad Dodik, President of the RS (SNSD).
“Do the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers Borjana Krišto and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmedin Konaković plan to take responsibility for this diplomatic fiasco of Bosnia and Herzegovina? If not, who do they consider responsible, and what sanctions do they foresee for those responsible?” asks Sabina Ćudić, NS representative in the House of Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina is not the organizer of the summit in Neum, there is no connection with the cancellation of the summit, I did not even plan to attend the summit as the Minister of Foreign Affairs because we have a confirmed OSCE meeting in Malta at the same time,” said Elmedin Konaković, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina (NiP), Federalna writes.
