While the government in the RS is changing, it seems to be cemented at the state level – at least until the general elections. Although the Troika from the Federation tried to replace the SNSD with the Troika from the RS, Dragan Čović, the president of the HDZ BiH, was not and is not for this. Instead of replacing partners, he is announcing new meetings with the Troika from the Federation for next week. This is an attempt to mirror what works in the Federation to the state. Although the date and format of the meeting are not yet known, the Troika says that they also have a condition: Either Dodik or the EU.
From the fastest-formed Council of Ministers in history to the deepest crisis, and according to Čović, ever. After a year of dealing with himself and months of communicating through the media and social networks, Čović announces a gathering of partners from the Federation, but also beyond.
“I think that next week, we have such agreements with partners from the Federation, we will try to talk seriously, not about the Federation, we have protected that for the people’s year for this segment of government – both executive and legislative, but how to raise that element from the Federation, Bosniak-Croat cooperation, and to help at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said the president of the HDZ BiH.
“Dodik is neither an interlocutor nor a partner for us, and as for the functioning of the government, it should function according to the applicable laws. One of those laws, the Law on the Council of Ministers, states that the chairwoman Borjana Krišto should propose the missing Minister of Security and we urge them to do so as soon as possible, and the Parliament will declare itself and show whether or not there is a majority for the candidate,” said Saša Magazinović, an SDP representative in the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament.
“The time has passed when we can just sit back and pretend that nothing has happened in the meantime and move on. If Mr. Čović has changed his mind and decided on the European path, of course we are ready and we should sit down and talk. He spoke about strengthening Bosniak-Croat relations, I think the situation in Stolac is an excellent example for him to practically show us how he is working on that,” said Predrag Kojović, a representative of Our Party in the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament.
For Čović, the source of the crisis and the halting of all processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the disrespect for legitimate representation, without which there is no stabilization, and the key partner that will not be left in the lurch remains Dodik’s SNSD, which has said that there is no EU path. The platform for power without the SNSD with an under-capacitated opposition from the RS was a big mistake of the Troika, Čović claims again.
“Some people got carried away that they could apply the Troika concept as a model from the Federation to the RS Troika. We also had those talks in the belief that we could initiate something. You can see how that Troika looks today. There is nothing in harmony there to think together, they are concerned with themselves. We must not enter into a new danger – to look for partners in relation to what we have already agreed upon, without a clear position on what tomorrow looks like, what the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and even the Croatian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, looks like,” says Čović.
“The luck in that misfortune was the appearance of brave opposition members in the House of Representatives who are interested in the fate of the people living in Bosnia and Herzegovina, so they were that hand of reason or the voice of reason for voting on some European laws, and we have these key laws waiting for us ahead of us, which are, in my opinion, technical,” emphasized the president of NiP, Elmedin Konaković.
So, from the Troika for HDZ, another call for commitment: either the EU or Dodik’s SNSD.
“As for his quasi-pro-European orientation, we have a Growth Plan that has a deadline of September 3, so that we don’t lose another 100 million. Also, filling the Council of Ministers, etc. His comments about the opposition from RS, honestly, I wouldn’t even comment on that. I think he has now put himself in a situation where he will have to prove to us his pro-European commitment and willingness to work on it,” says Kojović.
“Čović and HDZ need to choose between the EU path of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the adoption of laws, the work of institutions – and keeping Nikola Špirić’s seat. That is their choice, but then they must also face the consequences of that choice – both in the country and within the international community,” stressed Magazinović.
And the consequences are a state without a budget, a growth plan and a date for opening negotiations with the EU, which is an optimistic plan to resolve in the first week of September, when the State Parliament is in session and the leaders are sitting at the table, and on which Čović once again, as in the wake of Dodik’s anti-constitutional moves, places the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the message that those who have already started the pre-election marathon without it will have a hard time reaching the finish line.
