The talks on forming the government are almost over, and only the submission of Bosnia's Annual National Programme (ANP) remains to be agreed, the Bosniak and Croat Presidency members, Sefik Dzaferovic and Zeljko Komsic, told the US Ambassador to Bosnia, Eric Nelson, on Thursday.

Dzaferovic and Komsic noted that the ANP is a matter of the rule of law and the country's foreign policy commitment, as well as the continuation of the defence reform.

Bosnia’s tripartite Presidency consists of three members coming from three constituent peoples – Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats.

While the Bosniak and Croat members support the submission of the ANP as the necessary step for the activation of NATO’s Membership Action Plan for Bosnia, the Serb Presidency member, Milorad Dodik, opposes it, as the politicians from the Serb-dominated part of the country, Republika Srpska (RS) are against it.

In October 2017, the RS National Assembly adopted a resolution on military neutrality, saying they would not join any military alliance and that they would follow Serbia’s lead on this.

The two Presidency members also discussed the political and security situation in the country, adding that the formation of the announced auxiliary police unit in the RS sends a wrong message requiring an appropriate answer.

All three concluded that giving up on the auxiliary police unit in the Serb-dominated entity of RS would decrease tensions and that focusing on the more pressing issues, such as implementing the reforms and improving the economy would benefit the citizens’ living standards.