Schmidt urges BiH leaders to seize "golden opportunity" and unlock EU support

Schmidt said he cannot understand that there is this golden opportunity for Bosnia and Herzegovina in the form of financial support that is not being used, and that he would not like to see the country take a step backwards.

He welcomed the efforts of the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood, who this week encouraged local authorities to accept the Reform List, which would unlock funding from the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.

At Thursday's session of the Council of Ministers, SNSD ministers boycotted the vote. Unless BiH submits the Reform List to Brussels by 30 September, it will forfeit an additional €100 million. The European Commission has already withheld €100 million from the €1.08 billion allocated to BiH under the plan.

BiH Finance Minister Staša Kosarac (SNSD) explained that the Serb side objects to the Reform List, insisting that Republika Srpska, the Serb entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina, must have a visible role in decision-making on all issues, including EU matters.

Opposition PDP delegate in the House of Peoples, Nenad Vukovic, criticised both the SNSD and the Croat HDZ BiH, holding Borjana Kristo, the HDZ BiH chair of the Council of Ministers, responsible for the blockade. He argued that the HDZ BiH could resolve the situation by appointing a new security minister from the opposition Serb bloc, enabling the Council of Ministers to function and the reforms to be adopted.

The coalition agreement between the HDZ BiH, SNSD and pro-Bosnian parties formally remains in place. The Croat side continues to insist on electoral reforms as a condition for any change in government.