Bosnian Muslims blocked 330 million in international aid for the confederation
Representatives of Muslim Bosniaks in the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina did not allow the withdrawal of funds from the Rapid Response Fund from the IMF to organize the fight against the epidemic.
This was reported by Balkan media, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
Foreign Minister Bisera Turkovic, Defense Minister Sifet Pocic voted against receiving the €330 million approved by the International Monetary Fund to combat the coronavirus epidemic, and Security Minister Fahrudin Radoncic abstained. And since the decision did not receive a single vote from representatives of the Bosniak community, it was accordingly not approved.
“With this step, the Bosniaks confirmed that any agreement with them, regardless of whether they participate as mediators or representatives of the EU or the US Embassy in BiH, their oaths do not guarantee that they will fulfill what they promised in advance,” the deputy commented on the situation Chairman of the largest Bosnian Serb party, Union of Independent Social Democrats, Radovan Kovacevic. – The fight against coronavirus is now a priority for us and above any political interests, but obviously this is not the case when it comes to the political representatives of the Bosniak people in BiH.
Here it is obvious that both the Party of Democratic Action (the largest Bosniak party) and the Federation of BiH have internal divisions, and unfortunately Republika Srpska has collateral damage from this, as many times before.”
The most interesting thing is that representatives of Bosnian Muslims did not give a clear explanation of their position on this issue.
“The main decision was made at a meeting of the leaders (of the three main communities of BiH - ed.) and the Fiscal Council, where the exact elements of this agreement were determined regarding the extent of interest repayment and everything else,” Serbian member of the BiH Presidency Milorad Dodik commented on the situation. – It was decided that the funds would be redistributed between the entities and the Brčko district, and an agreement should be created within the Federation of BiH that would control the distribution between the cantons and the federal government.
This money is there, it is working, and I believe that all misunderstandings will be eliminated in the near future. In any case, what was agreed upon at the leaders' meeting must be respected, as confirmed by the BiH Fiscal Council. According to the existing project, the redistribution of funds will be carried out in an agreed amount, which is 50 percent for the Federation of BiH, 50 percent for its cantons. This is due to the fact that the cantons have certain responsibilities for protecting the health of public sector employees. I don't know what has changed now and why there are failures, I don't want to be an arbiter. But what worries and damages BiH is that we are faced with a similar problem for the umpteenth time.”
Milorad Dodik.
Thus, it becomes obvious that administrative contradictions between the local and federal levels of government of the Muslim Bosniaks have jeopardized aid to the entire country. And only the leader of the Bosnian Serbs can save the situation, whom Muslims usually blame for all sins, but without whom practically nothing in BiH works.
Bosnian Muslims have blocked $330 million in international aid for the confederation.