Legitimate representation is a serious problem, Bosnian Serb leader and member of the State Presidency Milorad Dodik told reporters on Thursday, following a meeting with Russian Ambassador to Bosnia Petr Ivantsov, with whom he discussed the stalemate in the formation of the state-level government.
“Someone decided to obstruct, to obstruct the election will regarding the legitimate representation of Serbs and Croats. We will take our adequate measures,” said Dodik, who represents the Serbs and Bosnia's Serb-dominated part, the Republika Srpska.
Another entity, the Federation, is represented by the Bosniaks and the Croats, two major groups dominating this part of the country.
“The people voted and we only have to form the government,” he added.
As the leader of the strongest Serb national party, Dodik recently signed an agreement with the leaders of the strongest national parties among Bosniaks and Croats.
The deal was supposed to end the months-long deadlock that prevents the country from forming a new state-level government following the October election. The burning issue burdening the process is the country's path towards the NATO with the currently ongoing bickering over the sending the country's first Annual National Programme (ANP) to the NATO.
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As the Serbs maintain their stance on military neutrality, which was passed in the Republika Srpska parliament, any progress towards the membership in the alliance, which the Bosniaks and the Croats support, is impossible.
According to Dodik, Bosnia Presidency Chairman Zeljko Komsic only complicated the situation by putting on the next week session's agenda a document and conditioning the appointment of the head of the government by its adoption.
“The ANP was made up by the Bosniak political elite in order to prevent the formation of joint institutions. They knew about the National Assembly's decision from the beginning. I will stick to that,” Dodik said, adding that he would attend the Presidency's session on Tuesday and that his stance is clear.
If the agreement on the formation of the government is not obeyed within thirty days, said the Serb leader, “various options” will be taken into consideration.
Russian Ambassador expressed grave concern over the ongoing developments and the fact that the government has not been formed ten months after the election.
“That's the matter of stability, development, reforms. Formation of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina is obviously a key to solve the problems and it seems obvious to me that the Council of Ministers should be formed on the grounds of the joint agenda,” said Russian diplomat.
Without naming them, the ambassadors assessed that “some conditions” for the government formation are “counterproductive.”
