Unless the main Bosnian Croat party gives up on its “irrational” demands, the nearly 330 million Euro loan the International Monetary Fund approved for Bosnia and Herzegovina to respond to the economic consequences of the coronavirus crisis will remain blocked, the leader of the ruling Bosniak party in the country, Bakir Izetbegovic, told N1 on Monday.
The millions Bosnia borrowed from the IMF remain at the country’s Central Bank because of disagreement on how it will be distributed in one of the country’s two semi-autonomous regions.
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The IMF approved the loan in April after the country’s two sub-state regions – the Serb-majority Republika Srpska (RS) and the Bosniak-Croat majority Federation (FBiH) – agreed on how to split it.
According to the deal, 62 percent was to go to the FBiH while 38 percent to the RS.
FBiH consists of ten cantons and half of the money the entity would receive would then go to the cantonal governments, while the other half would remain with the FBiH government.
But three Bosniak ministers voted against the distribution plan proposed by the Finance Ministry, arguing the proposal is not in line with the initial agreement.
The Bosnian Croat ministers say the Bosniaks are blocking the distribution of the funds while the Bosniaks are blaming the Croat ministers.
At the core of the problem is which law will be applied that determines how the international loan will be paid back.
Izetbegovic, the leader of Bosnia’s Party for Democratic Action (SDA), told N1 that the process is being blocked by the main Bosnian Croat party in the country, Bosnia’s Croat Democratic Union (HDZ BiH).
“It is being blocked by the stance of the HDZ to involve the cantons in Council of Ministers decisions in an unconstitutional way,” Izetbegovic said, calling this demand “irrational.”
“Even if they would achieve that, I don't know what the final goal of it is. Is it some kind of visibility for the canton, a political necessity ahead of the (local) election?” he asked.
“Only three cantons with a population of 200,000 are dominated by Croats. I don’t see a political gain while the loss would be huge,” he added.
Izetbegovic said that the funds will remain blocked until the HDZ BiH stops its “irrational demands and illegal policies.”
“We can not position the cantons the way some want us to because of political needs. The citizens need the money now. The Council of Ministers oversees the RS and FBiH, it does not deal with the distribution within FBiH,” he said.
Izetbegovic then criticised the HDZ BiH over the new government in FBiH not being formed since the 2018 election.
“The HDZ doesn’t want it and it suits them,” he said, arguing that the HDZ BiH currently has the FBiH President position and a number of other offices under its control.
“The election results gave them those positions. When they get 13 or 14 out of 18 positions then they can act this way. You must give in, make compromises,” he said.
