ZAGREB, 18 May 2022 - Contrary to expectations, Bosnia and Herzegovina's government on Tuesday failed to adopt a decision to secure funds for the implementation of 2 October general elections, with Finance Minister Vjekoslav Bevanda of the HDZ BiH saying an attempt was made to do it illegally by using political pressure.

The government held a conference call at which a proposal was made to finance the elections with budget reserves accumulated in previous years, which was a fallback option because the budget for 2022, which was to contain funds for the elections, has not been adopted yet due to political disputes in the country.

The adoption of the decision on securing funds for the elections was eventually blocked by ministers from the Croat HDZ BiH party while Serb and Bosniak ministers voted in favour.

Under the current election law, 19 May is the deadline by which the country's government, the Council of Ministers, must secure funds for the implementation of elections which the Central Election Commission (SIP) has estimated will cost more than €6.5 million.

The general election is expected to be held based on the country's existing election law after the failure of all attempts to change the law in order to secure the implementation of rulings of the BiH Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights.

Their implementation was to have eliminated discrimination of voters in the election process based on their ethnicity or place of residence as well as secure the right for Croat voters to elect on their own Croat representatives to the BiH Presidency and the House of Peoples of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country's Bosniak-Croat entity.

Parties gathered around the Croatian National Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HNS BiH) maintain there are therefore no legal preconditions to implement the election results.

They have decided, however, to participate in the elections, hopeful that before October some sort of agreement on the election reform could be reached, a possibility the Bosniak Party of Democratic Action (SDA) has resolutely dismissed.

Immediately after SIP called the elections on 4 May, the BiH Council of Ministers was asked to secure funds for their implementation, a request openly supported by the Office of the High Representative, the United States and the most influential EU member countries.

In a separate statement issued after the vote at the Council of Ministers, Finance Minister Bevanda claimed money for the elections cannot be secured the way it was attempted on Tuesday.

"Law and lawful conduct were evidently not a priority in proposing this decision," Bevanda said, noting the proposal was a result of political pressure.

He accused SIP of "an unprecedented campaign of imputation and manipulation", an allusion to the fact that SIP has accused him of trying to obstruct the implementation of the elections and threatened to sue him.

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ZAGREB, 16 May 2022 - No agreement on the reform of electoral legislation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is possible at this moment, and talks should continue only after the general election in October, the leader of the ruling Bosniak SDA party, Bakir Izetbegović, said on Sunday.

"There is no legal space to amend the electoral law because the Central Electoral Commission called the election ten days ago. And also, we are too far off from an agreement," Izetbegović said in an interview with the Bosnian Faktor news website.

He said that negotiations on the electoral reform had fallen through because the leadership of the Bosnian Croat HDZ BiH party had "too ambitious plans" about amendments that should be adopted. He added that the HDZ BiH's strategy was wrong because it was based on the blockade of the Bosniak-Croat Federation entity, cooperation with Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik and pressure on the SDA and Bosniaks.

Commenting on the announcement that a senior EU official would come to Sarajevo this month when the question of the electoral reform could be raised again, Izetbegović said that nothing would come of it and that he was certain that there would be no pressure to reach an agreement before the 2 October election.

"We have had some preparatory meetings with their advisers which clearly showed this approach and priorities," the SDA leader said. He pointed out that talks with EU officials would focus solely on the implementation of reforms and obstacles on the path to EU membership candidate status.

Izetbegović said that the electoral reform would be discussed "as soon as a new post-election coalition is formed."

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ZAGREB, 4 March (2022) - The leader of the Bosniak Party of Democratic Action (SDA), Bakir Izetbegović, said on Thursday that the agreement on changes to Bosnia and Herzegovina's election law would be reached when the Croat side was ready.

The neighbouring country is set to hold elections in autumn, and there is still no agreement on the new election law and limited constitutional changes.

Speaking in an interview with Croatia's Nova TV, Izetbegović said that Bosniaks were ready for agreement.

"(The agreement will be possible) when the Croat side is ready. We are... I supported the current negotiating model (with EU and US mediators)... even though it is stupid and does not benefit my party while (Bosnian Croat leader Dragan) Čović refused it," said Izetbegović.

"(The prerequisite) is readiness to accept the model offered by the international community, which definitely is not against Čović and Croats, and (the Croats') readiness to unblock the BiH Federation entity. The HDZ has practically blocked the Federation," he said in reference to the Bosniak-Croat entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On Russian invasion

Commenting on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Izetbegović said that Bosnia and Herzegovina should follow the EU's foreign policy. The Serb member of BiH's collective presidency, Milorad Dodik, does not agree with that and has said that he will not join in sanctions against Russia.

"Everybody has the right to their own opinion, but they do not have the right to be angry and make problems," said Izetbegović, noting that "many things Dodik does are not normal."

"This is the culmination of his actions of the past 15 years that have cost BiH and Republika Srpska and all peoples and citizens dearly," the Bosniak leader said.

"We could have been in NATO by now, we could have made progress on the path to the EU," he said.

As a precaution, and considering the conflicts in the east of Europe, EUFOR will deploy 500 troops in BiH, the EU military mission in BiH said on Thursday.

The worsened international security situation has potential to spread instability to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the mission said.

Asked if he believed there could be an armed conflict in BiH, Izetbegović said that he will do everything he can to prevent it.

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ZAGREB, 23 Feb 2022 - It is still possible to delay elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, due in October, if that would help resolve the problem of electoral law reform, the leader of the predominantly Bosniak Democratic Action Party (SDA), Bakir Izetbegović, said on Wednesday.

Izetbegović was speaking to the press in Sarajevo after talks between the Croat and Bosniak parties on the reform of electoral law, which were to have been held in Mostar on Tuesday, had been cancelled without explanation.

Izetbegović said he had not been invited to that meeting at all, but added that that did not affect his readiness for talks to continue in order to reach a solution.

"It is not unrealistic for an agreement to be reached," the SDA leader said, adding that an agreement should include a provision requiring the enforcement of all court judgments that had found discrimination in the election process. He said that "some progress" had been made in the consultations held so far.

Izetbegović said that the representatives of the international community were now waiting for the politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina to come closer in their views, after which they themselves might get involved in the finalisation of the agreement.

The SDA leader, however, rejected the possibility of changing the composition of the Central Election Commission (SIP), as demanded by the Croat HDZ BiH party and the SNSD of the Serb member of the state presidency, Milorad Dodik.

At a meeting of the upper house of the state parliament on Wednesday, the HDZ BiH and the SNSD adopted a conclusion saying that the present SIP had been appointed illegally and that the appointment procedure should be repeated. The two ruling Croat and Serb parties are dissatisfied because they consider the present Serb and Croat members of the SIP to be close to the opposition. The Bosniak MPs were against the proposal.

Izetbegović said that the HDZ and the SNSD could ask the court to decide on their proposal, otherwise the composition of the SDP would not be changed.

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ZAGREB, 13 Dec 2021 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Monday the crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina should be solved through talks and agreements based on the Dayton peace agreement which, he added, would defuse tensions and ensure equal rights for all its inhabitants.

He was speaking to the press in Sarajevo after meeting with the leaders of both houses of the BiH Parliament, including HDZ BiH party president Dragan Čović and SDA president Bakir Izetbegović.

Plenković said that as a friendly country with great respect for BiH, Croatia wants to advance cooperation through political dialogue in order to support reforms leading to EU membership and to help BiH catch up with its neighbors on the EU journey.

He said Croatia would like electoral law changes to satisfy all three constituent peoples and for Croats, as the smallest people, to be equal.

If such changes were made, Plenković said, the relations within the Federation entity would relax, and "the gentlemen's agreement between Bosniaks and Croats" would contribute to better relations with the Serbis and all government bodies would start functioning.

The European reform processes could resume as soon as the current crisis ended, he added.

Responsibility for such an agreement is solely on the political parties in BiH and its institutions, he said, adding that it is necessary to have a feeling for nuance and reality.

"Izetbegović understands that too. There are different models and solutions, but it's important to keep the letter and spirit of Dayton which, until 2006, was never in question," Plenković said, implying that the election of Željko Komšić to the BiH Presidency has undermined the substance of the peace agreement.

Responding to questions from the press, Plenković said that as far as he knew, EU bodies were not preparing to deploy European troops in BiH and that this was rather the stand of some MEPs.

The stand-in the EU is to condemn all actions leading to new tensions in BiH and that the Dayton agreement must be honored, he added.

It was Greens MEP Thomas Waitz who said in Sarajevo that the EU stood ready to deploy up to 6,000 troops in case the crisis escalated.

His colleague Romeo Franz, head of the European Parliament delegation on relations with BiH, said today this body was following with great concern the secessionist threats coming from the Bosnian Serb entity.

That poses a big danger to peace in BiH as well as all of Europe, he told the press after meeting with BiH MPs which was not attended by those from the Serb entity, who refuse to communicate with Greens representatives.

Franz said their group expects High Representative Christian Schmidt to react if necessary by using his broad powers, adding that he will insist in the European Parliament on urgent sanctions against all those in BiH who jeopardize its peace and stability.

After talks with representatives of the executive and legislative branches, the Croatian prime minister laid a wreath at the monument to the first victims of the siege of Sarajevo during the 1992-1995 war.

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