Two sessions of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) are scheduled for August 20th. The agenda of the first session will include the Annual National Program (ANP) for NATO, and the second proposal of the mandate for a new convocation of the Council of Ministers of BiH.
However, as previously announced by BiH Presidency Chairman Zeljko Komsic, if there is no agreement to send the first Annual National Plan to NATO, there will be no support for a candidate for the composition of the BiH Council of Ministers.
Therefore, the second session of the BiH Presidency will not be held. Komsic’s position was supported by BiH Presidency Member Sefik Dzaferovic.
On August 5th, hosted by the European Union (EU) Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, with Ambassador Lars Gunnar Wigemark in attendance, a meeting of leaders of political parties, election winners of the 2018 General Election was held.
SDA, SNSD and HDZ BiH leaders Bakir Izetbegovic, Dragan Covic and Milorad Dodik reached an agreement on the formation of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and signed the Principles for government formation at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“I am pleased that the persistent insistence of the Croatian side on dialogue and agreement has been fruitful, making progress that will hopefully finally enable the election winners to establish the government. The persistent commitment to urgent government formation is to highlight and recognize the priority of our work, which establishes the foundation for further development and progress of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Dragan Covic, President of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“This is in the interest of all the peoples and citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also of the construction of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a modern European state in which the equality of constituent peoples will be consistently respected and which, with its commitment to political responsibility, will move towards a better future,” Covic said.
The agreement will last 30 days and will be considered invalid if the Council of Ministers, which is equivalent to the national government in BiH’s complex political system, is not formed until then. The Chairman of the Council is going to be a member of Dodik’s SNSD, as well as Ministers for Foreign Trade and Communications and Transport, Nezavisne newspapers report.
On the other hand, Izetbegović’s SDA will get the portfolios of Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security, while HDZ BiH will receive the Ministries of Finance, Justice and Civilian Affairs.
