The Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Željko Komšić stated that the ban on the celebration of Statehood Day in Mrkonjić City is an attempt to say that Bosnia and Herzegovina as a country does not exist.
“When you forbid such things, the rule is that you forbid them because you are afraid of something. Perhaps Dodik is afraid that people in Republika Srpska might start to like November 25, so he wants to deny them that possibility. This is an attempt to say that there is nothing to that story – Bosnia and Herzegovina as a country. That Bosnia and Herzegovina as a country has no roots or anti-fascist traditions. A question you can ask Dodik, who comes from a partisan family, is what’s wrong with a day that smells and reminds of anti-fascism,” said Komšić.
When asked if this ban means that the policy of relaxation of relations and compromise did not produce the results that were announced, he says:
“How can you relax relations with politicians who openly deny the country or with politicians who want to further divide it. I mean both SNSD and HDZ. “If you constantly make concessions to them as the Troika (The Coalition of Three) does, if it’s a compromise, to do as Dodik and Čović want, I wouldn’t call it a compromise but making concessions,” he said.
State power
Commenting on the work of the BiH Council of Ministers and Parliament, he pointed out that it was expected that the state government would be “locked” at some point.
“At that moment when those endless concessions by the Troika were going to Dodik and Čović, I wondered how long they have been thinking like this. They will get into a situation where whatever they do in terms of concessions – they will be stuck on their own. If it weren’t for the story about the Constitutional Court, it would be a different question. If they make a concession to Dodik at the Constitutional Court, or by electing Marin Vukoja to the HDZ, the following question will arise – with Dodik, it is state property.
All those stories full of optimism spread by the parties, Troika and HDZ – how the Council of Ministers was quickly formed – it was seen that it meant nothing. How do you draw the conclusion that this is progress in the political life of BiH. The speed of forming a government is not a guarantee that things will go well. This was done under tremendous pressure, primarily from the Americans, and Schmidt’s extended arm was used. What they wanted to achieve, this time that has passed since the formation of the government shows that it was not very good news as they expected. Bosnia and Herzegovina is again stuck in the same discussions and topics, unless someone in Sarajevo wants to make concessions to Dodik and Čović and for the state to become smaller and smaller”.
Komsić emphasized that we should no longer pay so much attention to foreigners. The answer is that we in Sarajevo know what we want, we know what Dodik and HDZ want, he says.
What’s wrong with Troika?
He said that he most resented the Troika for leaving the security sector and finances to Milorad Dodik.
“They should not have left the security apparatus to Dodik to such an extent. Indirect Tax Authority – I trusted that the Troika would take it, it turned out that the promise was a fool’s delight. They let these things out of hand – and you don’t control the processes in two important segments – the security sector and finance,” he assessed.
Progress report
When it comes to the Progress Report of the European Commission, he emphasizes that “objectively, we have not done what is expected of us.”
“The situation is similar to the one with candidate status. We got that status thanks to the situation in Ukraine. That worked then. The same thing is now with the start of negotiations. We will have an opportunity in the spring for correction. The whole story about EU enlargement has definitely moved away from the story about standards and values and has become a geopolitical fact. And that may be a small door through which we can slip without fulfilling what is required of us”.
When it comes to reforms, he says he doesn’t see progress
“Nothing has been initiated. I would be very happy if we did something. We have not made progress on some important laws. I hope that at least a shred of reason will prevail in the parties that make up the state government, so they will make that step forward,” said Komšić.
He added that the primary goal of the politics coming from the RS when it comes to Euro-Atlantic integration is to stop NATO completely, and when it comes to the EU – ‘yes’ but under their conditions.
“For BiH to enter the EU, not even in this form, but to return to what they call the original Dayton. They will never get that, such a country as they imagine will never be a member of the EU”, Komšić believes.
Meeting with Macron
He also shared his impressions from the meeting with the French president.
“That conversation was very useful for me. The conversation was quite honest and lasted quite a while. Macron was really honest and said – I was against enlargement, but I changed my mind after the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Understand that even we in Europe do not have our relations resolved, but our goal is to keep all countries that aspire to be a member state with the EU. We finally got an answer, now it’s clear how France views that story because there were a lot of dilemmas. It’s not just France, it’s the politics of Germany as well.”
He points out that the story about alleged radicalism in BiH has its own merits origin in neighboring countries that want to, as he says, scare Europe with an imaginary fear of Islamic radicalism.
“I put all of this in the context of everything that is happening in the Israel-Gaza relationship,” he said.
Stoltenberg talked about cooperation, not joining
About the meeting with the Secretary General of NATO, he says that Stoltenberg spoke about cooperation, not about joining.
“He said that NATO is paying attention to BiH and Kosovo at this moment. When it comes to further progress, he said, you must come to an agreement between yourselves. It’s no use that we once agreed on this, that there are decisions by official bodies, they expect all political actors to clearly say that they want to join NATO. We will not get that, not only from the SNSD, but also from the HDZ, everyone is pushing for it for their own reasons,” said Komšić, stressing that cooperation with NATO will continue.
He also commented on information from BiH Defense Minister Zukan Helez that there are Russian paramilitary training camps in the RS.
“That information is confidential and not made public. If you start presenting them publicly, then you are breaking the law and you have to answer for it. Regardless of the interest of the public and the media, these things are not presented because they are confidential from the domain of security,” said Komšić categorically.
They told me that the OHR will not enforce the law on state property
According to Komšić, OHR’s position that it is a myth that state property belongs exclusively to the state or entities is primarily American.
“That is not the position of the legal department in the OHR, but above all the American position that is being pushed through the OHR. What some foreign diplomats told me is that the OHR will not go into the imposition of that law, but that all their engagement will end with the story of launching some principles. The Constitutional Court has already decided on it, how can we now take another approach, we will violate what is called the rule of law”.
The issue of state property has been resolved because there is a decision of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said Komšić.
He points out that the amendments to the rules of procedure of the FBiH Parliament are a function of the attempt to appoint Vukoja.
“The rules of procedure are being changed in order to reach the commissions that are necessary in the procedure for proposing candidates to the federal parliament,” said Komšić.
Is there a Four
In the end, he said that there is nothing from a potential coalition of SDA, DF, NES, SBiH.
“These are local elections, I would not pursue big politics in local elections. “It’s not a problem with the bloc’s cooperation and relationship with the Troika, it doesn’t occur to me to tie my hands before the local elections,” said Komšić.
