At Tuesday’s debate on Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), which was held in the European Union (EU) Parliament for the first time in a long time, the agreed views of most member states on the priorities that need to be addressed in order to get our country back on the EU track could be heard.
So, if the views of Croatian delegates are excluded, these priorities are providing money for the implementation of the General Elections in BiH and the urgent introduction of EU sanctions for the leader of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) and member of the Presidency of BiH Milorad Dodik. This is the position agreed by the majority of members of the European Parliament.
Namely, this is the position of the majority, except for Croatian delegates, who are trying to return the focus to changes to the Election Law. They say they will not support sanctions to Dodik.
It is obvious that, after the recent invasion of the Russian Federation on Ukraine, Europe has detected a potential next hotbed and possible generators of the crisis. Accordingly, and taking into account the messages sent to us on Tuesday, it is obvious that they have finally decided to take preventive measures.
At this moment, the question could be asked why the EU did not act more decisively in BiH before, at the first signs of Dodik’s secessionist policy and open blows to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of BiH by announcing the formation of parastatal institutions and blockades of state ones. However, “better late than never”, says an old proverb, and it is being referred to by the Member of the European Parliament Tineke Strik from the GreenLeft (GL) political party, who said during Tuesday’s discussion on the situation in BiH that sanctions against SNSD president were long overdue, and that sanctions to Milorad Dodik must be introduced immediately.
Another promising message came from EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi, who also attended Tuesday’s session of the European Parliament. He called on the Minister of Finance in the Council of Ministers of BiH, Vjekoslav Bevanda, to provide money from the budget for the preparatory actions for the organization of the elections. He also welcomed BiH’s alignment with the EU on Ukraine.
When all these statements are carefully analyzed, it is clear that all this leads to the fact that Dodik will most likely feel the first EU sanctions soon (probably in April). It is difficult to expect sanctions at the level of the entire EU, given the well-known positions of Hungary and Croatia on this issue, but the sanctions of individual countries are more than certain and are only a matter of time.
The second thing we can conclude is that the General Elections in BiH will be held, despite great efforts to problematize this threat because changes to the Election Law have not yet been agreed upon.
The election law, specifically its changes according to the model insisted on by the Croatian Democratic Union of BiH (HDZ), is no longer mentioned. It seems that Europe, due to the real threat to European values, which comes from Russia, has finally realized that strength lies in unity. And, especially in these difficult times, that is good news for BiH.
E.Dz.
Source: Klix.ba
