The President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik announced the blocking of 298 million euros in grants approved by the European Union on June 30 for four projects in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
After the European Commission announced a day earlier that the money was approved only for projects in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dodik “threatened” the failure to adopt the agreement in state institutions.
“In what way in the European Union, without a joint decision in Sarajevo, do they intend to implement what they have decided,” said Dodik to Radio Free Europe today.
Republika Srpska nominated eight projects for the reconstruction of the water supply and sewerage network. None have been approved by the European Commission.
This decision comes after Dodik’s secessionist statements about the separation of Republika Srpska from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The EU previously froze 600 million euros for the construction of a highway through Republika Srpska.
International agreements, including agreements on financing from donor and credit funds for projects of local communities, must be approved by the Council of Ministers as the state government, the three-member Presidency and the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH.
Cadres of Dodik’s SNSD can veto the adoption of such agreements in each of these three state institutions.
Let us remind you that the Delegation of the European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina previously told RSE that Republika Srpska did not meet the necessary criteria for funding.
Rejected applications of SNSD mayors
Doboj, Gradiška, Laktaši, Prijedor, Prnjavor, Teslić, Trebinje and Vukosavlje are the municipalities in Republika Srpska that were not granted grants by the European Commission for the renovation of the water supply and sewerage network, because they did not meet the criteria.
The heads of those municipalities in the Republika Srpska are members of the ruling Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), headed by the president of the Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, with the exception of Teslić, who is led by Milan Miličević, recently the president of the opposition Serbian Democratic Party.
“I am not calling for sanctions against anyone, because they will not create a high-quality political situation, but a political agreement in the institutions is needed. Let them sanction the politicians. However, in practice, these are sanctions against the population of the Republic of Srpska who expect drinking water in their homes, and that is not good.” , Milicevic said.
He explained that it was a broader project for which all eight municipalities applied for financial resources.
Miroslav Bojić, the SNSD mayor of Laktaš, the birthplace of Milorad Dodik, believes that this was done “for political reasons”.
“I hope that these are technical things that can be eliminated. I am sure that our applications are among the best in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We were the first to complete all the documentation in order to apply. I don’t know why they punish the citizens who suffer there and separate people in the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska and do not contribute to prosperity in the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Bojić.
Laktaši applied for a project worth around 10.5 million euros, half of which relates to water supply and half to the construction and renovation of the sewage network.
“Republika Srpska sent a very small number of projects, but even they did not meet the necessary criteria for financing,” said Ferdinand Koenig, spokesman for the Delegation of the European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina to Radio Free Europe.
Financing of new projects on the territory of Republika Srpska was stopped more than a year ago. The EU Delegation in Bosnia and Herzegovina reminded that in February 2022, the European Commission suspended the financing of two highway projects in the Republic of Srpska worth 600 million euros.
It was a response to the political crisis caused by the leaders of Republika Srpska by adopting, among other things, the unconstitutional law on the judicial council.
“The decision on the suspension of funds from 2022 can be changed after the end of the political crisis, and the EU would like to see the completion of Corridor 5c for the sake of all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Koenig told RSE.
He added that, “unfortunately, the recent escalation of the situation of the representatives of Republika Srpska is similar to the model of activities that undermine the competences of the state level and institutions, which led to the suspension of financing of two infrastructure projects last year.”
The Directorate for European Integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina told RSE that the Republika Srpska submitted only one application that related to the water supply and sewerage network in eight municipalities in the Republika Srpska.
They added that the line ministry, after finishing, can apply within the next call of the European Commission, and that the WBIF Operational Board makes the final decision on financing.
The authorities of Republika Srpska, led by Milorad Dodik, last month started adopting two more unconstitutional entity laws.
According to those laws adopted by the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska, the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the high representative of the international community, Christian Schmidt, would not be respected in the Republika Srpska.
Schmidt canceled them before they took effect.
The authorities of the Republika Srpska announced the adoption of the law para
and which Republika Srpska would not even recognize the authority of the State Court and Prosecutor’s Office of BiH.
“I think there will be even more sanctions like this in the future,” said Nenad Grković, state representative of the opposition party For Justice and Order.
He believes that this is “a consequence of the policy of the President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik”.
Branislav Borenović, president and representative of the opposition Party of Democratic Progress, assessed that it was a “bad message”.
Saša Magazinović, state representative of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) of Bosnia and Herzegovina, says that the reason is “more than concrete”.
In February last year, the European Commission received requests for EU support for the highway project on Corridor 5C. Commissioner for Extension and Neighborhood Oliver Varhelyi then announced that among them were two projects located on the territory of Republika Srpska.
“The agreements for these two projects amount to 600 million euros, but that money will be paid out only after the state institutions are functioning,” Varhelyi said at the time.
The EU has not formally imposed sanctions on Milorad Dodik or Republika Srpska, despite calls from officials of some member states and representatives in the European Parliament.
David McAllister, president of the European Parliament’s foreign policy committee (AFET), permanent rapporteur for BiH Paulo Rangel and chairman of the delegation for relations with BiH and Kosovo Romeo Franz called on July 5 to sanction Dodik.
Dodik and several officials are on the “black list” of the United States and the United Kingdom.
Last year, Germany froze more than one hundred million euros intended for the financing of three energy projects and one utility project in Republika Srpska. The European Commission approved a total of 303 million euros in grant funds for projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
298 million euros were approved for four projects from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This grant will “free” loans from international financial institutions in the amount of 788 million euros, it was announced on Tuesday, July 4.
The EU has approved grants for the construction of 11.9 kilometers of highway near Žepč and Maglaj in central Bosnia, including five tunnels and nine bridges. The second project is a 14.2 kilometer highway near Mostar in the south of the country. The project for the rehabilitation of the water supply system in Sarajevo and the rehabilitation of the Crpna hydroelectric plant in Čapljina, in the south of Bosnia and Herzegovina, were also approved.
In addition, four regional projects worth 944 million euros, in which BiH will participate, have been approved, of which 142 million euros are grants. From this, Bosnia and Herzegovina will receive around five million euros.
The EU will finance a total of 14 projects in the Western Balkans in the areas of transport, energy, environment, human capital and support to the private sector in the amount of 2.1 billion euros.
The European Commission did not approve any projects from Montenegro, because they were “premature and unsuitable”.
Kosovo is not on the list of approved projects either, because all financial programs have been suspended since Pristina did not comply with European requirements when it comes to steps to calm tensions in the north of Kosovo.
