Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik called on the NATO officials to dismiss the decision on approving the Membership Action Plan (MAP) for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and avoid being the main reason why the state institutions in this country do not function.

“We never said that there should be no cooperation with NATO. We have a certain shape of cooperation, we understand what that huge military integration means and we're ready to cooperate at the same level that Serbia cooperates. Prejudging a membership is absolutely something that is imposed,” he stressed.

Dodik, who represents Bosnia's Serb-dominated entity Republika Srpska in the State tripartite Presidency, strongly opposes the country's membership in NATO and any move that would bring Bosnia closer to that position.

For the same reason, he refuses the adoption of the Annual National Programme (ANP), which other two Presidency members, Bosniak Sefik Dzaferovic and Croat Zeljko Komsic, insist on.

NATO foreign ministers approved in December last year the MAP for Bosnia under the condition of sending the country's first ANP, which to date has not happened due to political disagreements in Bosnia.

The two Presidency members, who insist on the ANP and who represent Bosnia's other entity, Federation (FBiH), refuse signing the appointment of the prime minister-designate, who is a candidate of Dodik's SNSD party, which caused a stalemate in the government formation, eleven months after the elections were held.

“It is first necessary to appoint the Council of Ministers. I have nothing against the new Council of Ministers putting (on agenda) a document that would be called anyway and that the Council of Ministers decides on it, but if someone else says in advance what is the Council supposed to do, then it is something else and is impossible,” underlined Dodik.

The whole situation is unnecessary and is detrimental to Bosnia and Herzegovina, he added.