A public hearing of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH, Elmedin Konaković, was held. Before the BiH Foreign Affairs Commission and the public, he rejected all accusations and responsibility for the cancellation of the Western Balkans-EU Leaders’ Summit in Neum. So he addressed them to the absent Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Borjana Krišto.
When, how and why? The time has come for accountability. Under the scrutiny of the BiH Foreign Affairs Commission, the circumstances that ensured BiH diplomatic embarrassment at the end of last year due to the cancellation of the Western Balkans-EU Leaders’ Summit in Neum. After the debacle, with the label of responsible, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH gave the public one answer.
“I have no responsibility and I am sorry that I was not present when the session of the Council of Ministers of BiH was scheduled or canceled. My deputy was present at the session and I did not receive any information that we were organizing it.”
And, in organizing the summit – only one company, close to Konaković.
“The company of your godfather, the minister, or his daughter. And that moment is related to you personally, in the part of awarding the job to the aforementioned company,” said Commission member Midhat Čaušević (SDA).
“I learned about it from the media. If he had asked me, if he had said what I thought, I would have said – don’t be crazy. And if I had told him – don’t apply for tenders now that they have blocked all your assets and when you can’t work, I wouldn’t be able to do that as a human being.”
From the Council of Ministers to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, last year, there was obviously a communication blunder. The summit is being prepared, the leaders are coming, the head of BiH diplomacy doesn’t know. In the entire organization, there is absolutely no point of contact with Konaković. At least, in his report. And, since he doesn’t agree with the one from the Commission, the tone is also rising.
“I am a little emotional in my speech, don’t get angry and I am a little, as our people would say, more vocal. I can hear myself, I am shouting. I can’t control it, especially when you accuse me of something I don’t do. I know that I am guilty of all sorts of things, but I am not guilty of this.”
We cannot speak together, in one voice. And the Commission obviously does not want to listen to everything that Konaković wants to say. The rules have been defined, so they must be respected.
“I would like to remind you that this is a hearing, not a hearing of Mr. Konaković,” said Commission member Safet Kešo (SDA).
“I will never be heard according to the criteria and standards that you think I should be. I will not remain silent, I can go out and hold a press conference, you will not tell me what to say.”
Finally, responsibility is addressed to someone else. The culprit has been found, even though he is absent.
“The greatest responsibility for the cancellation lies with the Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers, who received the decision on the organization and figured out a way to implement it in a very short time.”
Not responsible, not competent – Repeated several times, but still not enough for the Commission.
“If you were a real foreign minister, no one could have stopped you from saying at a session of the Council of Ministers – no one will take it away from me, I will head that organizing committee,” Kešo said.
“That, Mr. Kešo, cannot be done”.
One duel died down, another began. The opposition was fierce, and no less so was my colleague from the Troika.
“One fact is clear – that the only ministry in the Council of Ministers that has two members of the organizational team is your ministry. You said that you would fight hand and foot to prevent it from being canceled if you had known – I am interested in whether this means that you do not agree that there were serious violations of the law in the public procurement procedure?”, asked the Deputy Chairperson of the BiH Foreign Affairs Commission Sabina Ćudić (NS).
“No, Ms. Ćudić, I would say – stop it, give it to me, with this team of people who brought 289 participants of the NATO Symposium here to these premises, which had 54 participating countries and received a score of 10”.
And the end. The hearing is over, the Commission will prepare conclusions, and then forward them to the BiH House of Representatives. However, before them, one conclusion is extremely clear. Organization is not a strong point for BiH officials, responsibility for this is unknown, but that is why they are the champions of fierce debate and spectacle behind parliamentary walls, Federalna writes.
