The decisions of Members of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Presidency Milorad Dodik and Zeljko Komsic on the withdrawal of 27 BiH diplomats will cost BiH citizens from 350 to 400 thousand BAM, Igor Crnadak, BiH’s Foreign Minister told Klix.ba news website.
On December 18th, Members of BiH’s Presidency Milorad Dodik and Zeljko Komsic, have resigned at the extraordinary session 21 ambassadors, three heads of mission and three consuls.
This move was characterized as “cutting out” the diplomats appointed by former members of the head of state Mladen Ivanic and Dragan Covic.
The public in BiH has not yet discussed the cost that will be a result of the decisions of Milorad Dodik and Zeljko Komsic.
Crnadak said that the decisions to shift and appoint new ambassadors would definitely create additional costs and that the competent authorities still cannot accurately determine the exact amount of money this will cost BiH citizens.
According to the first calculations done by BiH Foreign Ministry, between 350 and 400 thousand BAM will be needed from the budget. It is still unknown how many family members will go with new ambassadors.
Crnadak told Klix.ba that the decision of the members of the BiH Presidency was an unusual move, but that the appointment and dismissal of the Ambassador was the exclusive competence of the Presidency of BiH.
The BiH Presidency has dismissed ambassadors of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Japan, Canada, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia, Switzerland, Belgium, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the BiH Ambassador to the Holy See.
Also, the BiH Presidency dismissed the Head of the BiH Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, the Head of the Permanent Mission of BiH at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, the Head of the BiH Mission to the OSCE and the UN Office in Vienna, the BiH Consul General in Istanbul Turkey, the BiH Consul General in Milan and Italy’s Honorary Consul in Tel Aviv, Israel.
BiH Presidency Chairman Milorad Dodik immediately after assuming his duties has announced that the dismissal of ambassadors will be one of his first moves, because, as he claims, these ambassadors have not contacted Republika Srpska until today.
After the presidency session on December 12th, Dodik said that him and Zeljko Komsic will dismiss a number of ambassadors.
The Presidency of BiH has not yet announced who will be new ambassadors and heads of missions.
