Bosnia’s outgoing Prime Minister told N1 on Thursday that despite the October 2018 election results he will keep serving the position until the country sends its Annual National Programme (ANP) to NATO, as it has pledged to do.
Bosnia’s Government – called the Council of Ministers – has not been formed yet mostly because the Bosniak and Croat members of the tripartite Presidency refuse to greenlight the proposed prime minister because the candidate is opposed to the country's path towards NATO membership.
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Bosnia has previously pursued NATO membership but in recent years Bosnian Serb politicians have changed their mind and the next candidate for the prime minister comes from the ruling Serb party, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), which is strongly opposed to membership in the alliance.
The SNSD and its leader, Milorad Dodik, who is also the current Chairman of the Presidency, have accused the main Bosniak party, the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), of blocking the forming of the Council of Ministers.
“We live in a time of constant deceptions and manipulations which are mostly being put up by those who cause blockages in Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to justify their anti-constitutional and illegal activities. The Government in Bosnia and Herzegovina can be formed very swiftly, within 10 to 15 days, but for that, one very simple thing is necessary – it is called the rule of law and justice,” said Council of Ministers Chairman Denis Zvizdic from the SDA.
“We have those who do not want to implement adopted laws while at the same time accusing others of blocking the forming of the government. We have a prepared Annual National Programme which needs to be sent to Brussels and at the same time we need to name the person who will take over the mandate for the Council of Ministers and the entire process will be completed within several weeks,” he said.
Zvizdic called on the SNSD to propose law changes which will demand that Bosnia does not go towards NATO membership if the party wants to avoid it.
