The US Embassy in Sarajevo welcomed on Wednesday the recent agreement between Bosnia's three largest political parties on the formation of the State-level government but added they are waiting for the tripartite Presidency to clarify whether the agreement includes a consensus on the submission of Bosnia's Annual National Programme to NATO.
“We welcome this and we will work with political parties and members of the Presidency to clarify the issue of how the next government will interpret this agreement, including in particular whether there is a clear consensus on the early submission of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Annual National Program (ANP) to NATO,” the Embassy said.
The ANP is a precondition for the activation of Bosnia's Membership Action Plan (MAP) for NATO after the Alliance approved its activation for the country. But, even though Bosnia adopted a number of laws and regulations saying it will fulfil all the preconditions for the MAP, Bosnian Serbs stand against it.
The leaders of the three main national, ethnic-oriented parties, the Bosniak Democratic Action Party (SDA), Serb Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) and the Croat Democratic Union (HDZ BiH) signed an agreement Monday on the principles for the formation of the government in Bosnia after the October 2018 general election.
The reason why the government was still not formed is the level of cooperation with NATO and Bosnia's accession to this alliance.
Related news
In the said document, party leaders reaffirmed the existing consensus on the importance of Bosnia’s progress on the EU and NATO paths.
However, only hours after the signing ceremony, the signatories, as well as opposition parties from all sides, started interpreting the agreement differently and disagreeing over its contents.
The US embassy reiterated “the US remains committed to peace and security in Bosnia and a prosperous future for the citizens of this country.”
The Agreement says that should it not be implemented in the next 30 days, it shall be considered null and void.
