Partners in Bosnia and Herzegovina's ruling coalition agreed on the procurement of helicopters for the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina during a meeting in Istocno Sarajevo, SNSD leader Milorad Dodik stated on Thursday. Dodik emphasized that the helicopters will be "unarmed" and used for humanitarian missions and rescue operations.

“We decided at the last meeting that the Council of Ministers should adopt certain conclusions, which we have now confirmed, regarding the purchase of unarmed helicopters. We assigned the Ministries of Finance and Defense to manage this process,” Dodik said.

Coalition partners also discussed three issues during the meeting: the Border Service Law, the Personal Data Protection Law, where four disputed points were resolved (with one remaining), and the Growth Plan.

“The Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina reached an agreement, but a problem arose in three cantons governed by the SDA, which put forth objections and halted the process. We tasked Kristo with providing us with the European Commission's opinion on these two or three open questions so that we can reach an agreement. I believe we had a good meeting,” Dodik commented.

He also noted that the Law on the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina was not discussed, as it was “not required by the European Commission.”

Nermin Niksic, leader of SDP BiH, stated that the meeting was productive, as all open issues related to the Border Control Law and Personal Data Protection Law were resolved. “Our representatives in working groups are tackling these issues, and if there's a problem, we discuss it at meetings like this one,” Niksic said.

Niksic added that other matters were also resolved, and that the Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers, Borjana Kristo, would convert the agreements into a document for review after receiving the European Commission's feedback.

“I'm confident that if we continue in this spirit, we'll make additional progress towards fulfilling EU accession requirements,” Niksic stated.

HDZ BiH leader Dragan Covic expressed optimism that the harmonization of the Border Control Law and the Personal Data Protection Law would pave the way for Bosnia and Herzegovina to progress toward EU membership within the next 10 to 15 days. He thanked Milorad Dodik for hosting the meeting and highlighted the constructive atmosphere among participants.

“As you heard, not a word was added. We're proceeding with urgent sessions of the Council of Ministers to pass these two laws, one of which is already complete, while the other requires a minor legal addition,” Covic said.

Covic also stressed that this progress positions Bosnia and Herzegovina to have an open path to the EU within the next 10 to 15 days.