KOVAČEVIĆ: NEŠKOVIĆ AND VUKOVIĆ PRIORITIZE POSITIONS OVER EMPLOYEES IN BiH INSTITUTIONS

SARAJEVO, NOVEMBER 20 /SRNA/ – Serb delegate in the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly Radovan Kovačević said that opposition delegates from Republika Srpska, Želimir Nešković and Nenad Vuković, with the support of Sarajevo-based political parties, did everything they could to prevent adoption of the 2025 BiH budget, putting themselves ahead of all employees in state-level institutions.

"By doing so they sent a clear message that their little seats in some committee, or a slot on some delegation flight, mean more to them than the livelihoods of more than 20,000 employees in BiH’s joint institutions", Kovačević told reporters. He pointed out that throughout the debate, Vuković and Nešković openly stated they were not against obstructing the budget adoption. Kovačević noted that when their attempt to bring down the session through additional agenda items failed, one walked out and the other refused to support the budget. "I don’t think there is a clearer example that they wanted to block the budget", he stressed. Kovačević explained that a vital national interest procedure was launched today because Nešković and Vuković demanded that a vacant Serb seat in joint parliamentary commissions and delegations be filled, even though the Serb Club in the House of Peoples — which is responsible for nominating commission and delegation members — had not discussed the matter. "We were not willing to let them block the budget this way", Kovačević said. He expressed gratitude to the Serb member of the BiH Presidency Željka Cvijanović, SNSD President Milorad Dodik, and Minister of Finance in the Council of Ministers Srđan Amidžić for insisting that a constitutionally compliant budget be adopted, one that Republika Srpska has consistently demanded. Kovačević concluded that the adopted budget includes no increase for the Ministry of Defense, and no funds for the so-called state-level cultural institutions or BHRT. "It does include salary increases for all employees in state-level institutions, as well as BAM 1,000 supplement from unallocated funds", Kovačević added.