Today’s meeting of the leaders of the parties in power at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina was a preparation for a new one that will be held in 15 days, at which a new set of laws for the European path of BiH will be agreed, said the leader of the SDP BiH Nermin Nikšić.
Nikšić said that they will try to adopt these laws in the Council of Ministers and in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina and thus create the conditions for opening access to joint funds and negotiations for EU accession.
He stated that the results of the talks at the meetings of the leaders of the ruling parties in BiH are visible and that this is a step towards the establishment of a functional government at the level of BiH.
“This is a step towards the establishment of a government that will discuss in the interest of the citizens about what can be discussed and will put aside what cannot be discussed,” Nikšić told reporters in Sarajevo after a meeting of the leaders of the parties in the government at the level BiH.
He said that the last meeting of the leaders, which was held in August in East Sarajevo, resulted in the implementation of almost all conclusions, and that only the law on courts in BiH remained.
Nikšić stated that the earlier information that the Law on Courts has been harmonized with the European Commission is not entirely correct.
“Today’s meeting took place without friction and arguments. There are a lot of things that we look at differently, but we consider that an advantage. Everyone fights for their positions with arguments in order to reach certain solutions in the end,” said Nikšić.
He stated that there is an agreement to form working groups that will work on drafting the law on the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Some will say that we made an agreement and that we will betray the interests of others. We did not agree on any of that. People from the profession will work on the law and it will be in accordance with European laws. This does not mean that we will erase foreign judges. They will not be deleted until the moment when it becomes certain that there are burdens, and that is when it becomes certain that we will be a member of the EU, because we cannot be a member with foreign judges,” explained Nikšić.
He added that the meeting also discussed changes to the Election Law in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that there are different positions there, as well as the judgment of the Court in Strasbourg.
“We also talked about the high representative, we have our own view on that. Unfortunately, we are a country where there is still a need for the Office of the High Representative. We heard the statements of (SNSD leader) Milorad Dodik, but of course, just as he cannot influence on our views, we can’t influence him either,” said Nikšić.
He added that today they discussed both the eastern and the southern gas connection, as well as investments and money that is in the account of “Elektroprenos BiH”, and the distribution of excise tax funds.
Nikšić denied the journalist’s allegations that SNSD representatives left the meeting early because of any disagreements, explaining that they left early because of their obligations in Banja Luka.
Forto: Making a package for further progress in the next 15 days
The leader of our party, Edin Forto, expressed the hope that in 15 days, when a new meeting of partners in the government at the BiH level is planned, “a package will be drawn up with which to move forward”.
After the meeting in Sarajevo, Forto said that they were discussing “three blocks of things”, one of which is the priority European package, the second is laws that are not part of the 14 priorities from the European Commission’s Opinion, and the third is “all those things that are happening in real life”.
“The second block is the laws that need to be passed in the departments and about which there is nothing controversial. Today we mentioned some of them, and we are talking about the laws on cyber security, on electronic signature, foreign affairs, border control, as well as others that harmonizes the acquis with the EU,” said Forto.
Konaković: We made small steps on some topics and agreed to continue the conversation
The President of Narod i Pravda Elmedin Konaković said that the meeting was more difficult than some usual ones.
“Today we took small steps on some topics and agreed to continue the conversation in the near future, in which we will specify and define some new points of view and open new stories and agree on the adoption of laws that should benefit everyone,” said Konaković.
He referred to the five adopted laws in the state parliament that are part of the conditions that the European Union has placed before BiH, stating that they will benefit all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will be theirs for the continuation of work and further discussions and agreements.
He confirmed that today the Law on Courts was discussed, as well as the Law on Conflict of Interest, and discussions were opened on the Eastern and Southern Interconnection, and we can talk about more concrete results and effects that are behind them and the meetings that should produce new ones.
“The implementation of the previous meetings was seen at the sessions and that was an important and beautiful part of our agreement that we are proud to present to Brussels and we expect to get something in return for that,” stressed Konaković.
The meeting was attended by the presidents of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Narod i Pravda (NiP), Our Party (NS), the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats Nermin Nikšić, Elmedin Konanović, Edin Forto, Dragan Čović and Milorad Dodik.
Photo: archive, source: Agencies
