Bosnia budget agreed unanimously as Forto warns country still lags behind on Growth Plan

However, he warned that Bosnia continues to lag behind in implementing the Growth Plan due to a lack of political will to carry out reforms, primarily within the Milorad Dodik-led Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD). Forto noted he supported the budget on behalf of Our Party for two reasons.

"One reason is that it takes a significant step towards equalising the rights and status of agencies, the armed forces, and civil servants with those at other levels of government, particularly in terms of increasing their salaries," he said, noting the budget has grown substantially in recent years.

He stated the second reason was the adoption of a conclusion instructing his Ministry to resubmit decisions on the allocation of surplus funds, with the possibility of reaching a compromise under which part of the money, alongside supporting entity-level projects, would be directed towards BHRT.

"Our Party will act accordingly during the parliamentary procedure," Forto said, adding that whilst some items were removed, the session included many technical matters.

The minister referred to the fact that the European Commission had approved new funding under the Growth Plan for Albania, Montenegro, and North Macedonia, whilst Bosnia is still working on the issue.

"Today, we received a brief update from Finance and Treasury Minister Srdjan Amidzic, who is due to propose the agreements we need to ratify with the EU. One agreement is under review by the entities. I will repeat my political view: this is moving step by step because there is an agreement not to implement the Growth Plan prior to the elections," Forto said.

He added that the Growth Plan could have been adopted much earlier, but SNSD lacks the political will to implement the reforms. According to Forto, every legislative package is linked to financial support, meaning authorities in Republika Srpska would have to explain why they are giving up hundreds of millions of marks intended for reforms.

Regarding the agreement with Croatia on border crossings, Forto said the item received the necessary backing and was adopted. "The profiles of the border crossings at Izacic and Kamensko have been upgraded. Svilaj will finally receive that status, and gradually, the new crossing at Gradiska will receive it as well," Forto said, concluding that the four new crossings will significantly improve business conditions and speed up the movement of goods and passengers.