The submission of Bosnia's Annual National Programme (ANP) for 2018-2019 is a technical step which should not be complicated and politicised, the US Ambassador to Bosnia, Eric Nelson, said in Banja Luka on Wednesday.
“What I hear in all of my discussions is a broad agreement that the partnership (with NATO) is useful. Submission of the ANP is a technical step which should not be complicated, which should not be politicised,” the Ambassador said, adding that it is up to the government to decide how to resolve the standstill.
The ANP is a precondition for the activation of Bosnia's Membership Action Plan (MAP) for NATO. When it comes to Bosnia’s NATO membership, its three largest ethnic groups stand divided on the issue.
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Bosnian Croats and Bosniaks support the country’s accession, while Bosnian Serbs are strictly against it despite a number of adopted laws and regulations saying it will fulfil all the preconditions for the MAP. Bosnian Serbs claim they will follow Serbia’s lead on this.
Lawmakers in the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska (RS) entity even adopted a Declaration saying the entity will remain militarily neutral and that they will not join any military alliance.
Asked about the sanctions the US government imposed on the Bosnian Serb leader and Bosnia’s Serb Presidency Chairman, Milorad Dodik, Nelson confirmed that “the sanctions were a decision taken in Washington, based on specific actions and threats of Chairman Dodik.”
“We're looking forward to a better partnership in the future. We hope that all of the Chairman’s actions will promote and support the stability of Bosnia,” the Ambassador said.
In January 2017, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) introduced sanctions on Dodik saying he posed a “significant threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina”.
Before taking over the seat in Bosnia’s tripartite Presidency, Dodik served as the RS President during which time he advocated for its secession from Bosnia.
In the end, Ambassador Nelson briefly commented on the government formation process in the country after the October general election, saying he was well aware that “parties discussing coalition formations have different priorities,” but how they balance those priorities is something that the US respects as part of the democratic process.
