Elmedin Konaković, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina and President of NiP, commented on today’s meeting of the state coalition for Dnevnik D, saying that it was “good, and now we are waiting for implementation”.
“Another one of the good meetings. These are not pleasant conversations. These are conversations with political wolves who know very well what they want. They have some demands that are not acceptable to us, but they constantly ask for it, and on the other hand, we have to talk. We must do our best to try to take advantage of this opportunity, Europe is correct and concrete for the first time”, said Konaković.
Asked what is new after this meeting, he says:
“We were more specific here. We have an advantage here in the whole process, we have the end of this race in which the date can already be seen, we have the obligation to deliver these laws by the end of February so that some countries – the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden – approve through their parliaments the opening of negotiations. Political actors know this. I consider this meeting good, and in principle the agreement is of very high quality. Now we need to go into its implementation. In a short period of time, 4-5 days, the working groups will polish the document that has been on the table for a long time, and then we will remain in the final stages of those controversial political issues at another meeting, and then the sessions of both houses of the parliament in order to try to adopt it. If we do that, we will do a big thing,” he said.
About the verbal conflict with Milorad Dodik, he says that being the target of a politician in a country like this is a compliment. “Dodik and I look at many different things differently,” says Konaković.
“His attitude towards our history, the genocide, the fact that he still calls us Muslims, instead of Bosniaks… the very fact that we meet sometimes makes it painful. “I would rather not go to those meetings, to send an inflammatory message from home, but if we had done that, we would not be where we are today,” he explained.
BiH today has the best report in its history, the European Commission has recommended the conditional opening of negotiations, an offer of two billion BAM for projects is on the table, there is talk of integration into the European market, Konaković points out.
“That’s why it’s worth going to those meetings, swallowing a dumpling and a frog, but it’s not easy,” he added.
When asked why Milorad Dodik and Dragan Čović blackmail with recordings from meetings, he answers:
“We are not interested in those recordings, I would like them to be released. We also have recordings from today’s meeting. We are serious about this story, we are doing our job for the sake of all the people in this country, there is nothing compromising in these videos. They have a tough negotiation, maybe it would be good for people to hear how they outsmart each other. However, we are moving towards some solutions. “Compare this mandate of only one year with the mandate of the previous government, and you will see how many results there are,” claims Konaković.
He added:
“There are still a few weeks of time, and then the curtain falls on a process in which the whole world had the opportunity to see the real face of us politicians in BiH”.
He emphasized that the Troika made a big step forward.
“Making compromises, none to the detriment of the state, conducting dialogues, going to various places, the results are really better. This was correct from Dodik today, public appearances and blackmail, we don’t like it,” he is categorical.
He also explained why the Troika started talking about the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina with Dodik, and about the electoral law with Čović, when this is not a condition for anything at this stage.
“The electoral law at this stage is a requirement. Technical changes are a requirement. The representatives of the German government who were in BiH these days – today I spoke with the minister for the EU – she says that one of the most important conditions for Germany is the amendment of the electoral law in the area of integrity. I would like it to be solved by local politicians. Amendments to the constitution are our obligation from 14 priorities. We look at the electoral legislation through that process, which is mandatory. We must implement the judgments of international courts. These are both constitutional obligations from the European story. We have a view of the Constitutional Court in the future, we have a position on foreign judges, a position on timing, that should be discussed. It will be voted on only when we agree. It’s the same with the election law,” said Konaković.
He also answered the question why the law on the basis of which Dragan Čović was once elected to the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina is disputed.
“Every time in the Croatian media, I defended the legitimacy of the election of Željko Komšić, who is a legal and legitimately elected member of the BiH Presidency. Before me, as a visionary, Haris Silajdžić spoke about this, saying that it is not good, and I value the relations between Bosniaks and Croats as very important. After me, they said that – Bakir Izetbegović, that we will not choose each other’s candidates, Fahrudin Radončić, reis Kavazović said that. I still think so. I was ready for an agreement because the HDZ agreed to delete the ethnic prefix. Those were civic steps forward. Within the framework of that agreement, we are ready to resolve that issue. Individually, we are not at this moment, the priority is technical changes to the electoral law and the Central Election Commission, which is a political body,” Konaković concluded.
