The Peace Implementation Council meeting with the Troika, HDZ and the RS opposition has concluded. The topics were the current political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the unblocking of our country’s European path.
In a statement, Dragan Čović expressed concern about the political and institutional crisis in which Bosnia and Herzegovina finds itself. Such a situation, Čović said, not only slows down the necessary reform processes, but also seriously threatens the functioning of institutions and further distances the country from the European perspective. Instead of focusing on reforms and European integration that the HDZ advocates for, the practice of multiple gross violations of the Constitution of BiH was highlighted, as well as increasingly obvious signs of an early election campaign that undermines the political agreement, the HDZ BiH announced. The President of the HDZ BiH also spoke about the functioning of the government at the BiH level, commenting in particular on last year’s and the current blockade of the work of the House of Peoples, on whose agenda European laws are a high priority. He stressed that the HDZ BiH remains committed to peace, stability and territorial integrity and wants to resolve all open political issues through dialogue and with full respect for the constitutional order. He stressed that the HDZ BiH is looking for partners who are ready to ensure the constitutional equality of the three constituent peoples and legitimate political representation in the House of Peoples and the Presidency of BiH. We do not want to accept even the slightest possibility that the Bosniak people will re-elect two Bosniak members of the Presidency of BiH, said Čović.
Nebojša Vukanović: Without any hesitation, I spoke about the hypocrisy of Dragan Čović, who is responsible for this situation. He is watching Milorad Dodik and is responsible for this type of blockade. The solution exists and it is in the hands of Čović and Borjana Krišto, it can be resolved this week by starting the procedure for appointing the Minister of Security. The abuse of Dayton is the blockade of the House of Peoples. The international community said that Dodik is a usurper and that there are no negotiations with him, I hope that Čović heard that. But I am glad that the international community said that RS is not Milorad Dodik and that there will be no sanctions for RS.
Ilija Cvitanović: The PIC is absolutely interested in the European path and the sixth month is when laws need to be adopted, a negotiator appointed and negotiations started. We still have difficult political issues, in the Federation there is the issue of changing the Election Law. This is a country of three constituent peoples and I said that and that is a topic that the Federation is seeking an urgent solution to. There was talk of unblocking the House of Peoples, I am not sure that will happen soon. There will be no next session, another one should be scheduled next week, I do not know what the agenda will be. But, here is another call to reach a compromise, I did not feel the possibility of the High Representative acting but to be a partner in resolving these problems. If this month passes without EU laws being adopted, unblocking the House and the Council of Ministers – I think there will be bigger problems.
Draško Stanivuković: My duty was to hear the position of RS. We believe that it is wise to listen to the position of the RS, and for someone else to speak for us is wrong. We said that Dayton is the foundation, and peace is everything, and that is the direction we should move in. We have done everything we can, through the parliament and our representatives. The Serbian interest is to unblock the institutions. The interest is to adopt laws, to adopt the Growth Plan. The RS must not be isolated and rejected. There is no transfer of competences, Dayton is the key. We understand the HDZ and that the Croatian people want to elect their own member, we understand that and it is acceptable for us. The problem is the other side that is holding back all this. We are the initiators and movers. Certain public advocacy that sanctions should be introduced for the RS and its citizens, we said – don’t do that and we were assured that it would not go in that direction, that the people of the RS would suffer because of an individual. Sanctions of an economic and other nature can permanently destroy the economy. I was encouraged to hear that they would not go in that direction and for me it was a diplomatic victory. This is good news for RS and its citizens.
Elmedin Konaković: It was a very good meeting. There is a simmering situation in BiH, but the situation in BiH is unraveling. The Troika set out to unblock, not block, European processes. When the SNSD told us that it was not interested in the EU path, we found partners who were interested. Today, there were even sparks in the hall. If we do not reach an agreement ourselves, the international community should use its Bonn powers to unblock.
Nermin Nikšić: The SDP’s position is, first of all, that it is not fair to push a hot potato on the RS opposition to deliver the BiH Election Law. Of course, we are also ready to talk about the Election Law and seek a compromise. But a compromise is not a guarantee that we will give up the principles we are fighting for, because without the Election Law we have the capacity for the EU path. We need to adopt those two European laws. After this meeting, I do not think that we are any closer to a solution, we have only confirmed our positions once again.
Milan Miličević: As far as we from the RS are concerned, the meeting was an excellent opportunity to present the second position, the opinion of the RS parties, at a high level. We do not want to be hostage to any sanctions that relate to the population of RS, which relate to capital investments and development projects that are now in operation – and are only being announced through non-paper. Peace, stability, EU path. I cannot say that I am too optimistic considering that we have offered a solution to the impasse through the platform and previous meetings. There is little time to achieve everything, so compromises need to be made, let’s stick to the topics that we all agree on, and these are topics about European laws and the electoral process and in that way show trust. SDS shows that we are not obstruction but progress that both RS and FBiH want, Federalna writes.
