August 21 (SeeNews) - Bosnia's tripartite presidency has failed to agree on the country's NATO membership plan and on a new government more than ten months after the elections, local media reported.
The presidency comprises three members - Sefik Dzaferovic, representing the Bosniaks and Zeljko Komsic, representing the Croats, who are pro-NATO, and pro-Russian Milorad Dodik, representing the Serbs, who opposes any progress towards NATO membership.
The presidency held a regular session on August 20 but canceled two extraordinary sessions scheduled for the same day during which it was due to vote on the country's new prime minister and on the Annual National Programme (ANP), which is a precondition for activating Bosnia’s Membership Action Plan for NATO, Komsic told reporters after the session, as quoted by news agency Klix.ba.
Komsic and Dzaferovic have said earlier that the adoption of the ANP is a necessary condition for voting in the country's new government.
"We took these decisions easily, without discussion. We knew 15 minutes earlier where we were headed. There was no need to dramatise and raise tensions," Komsic said.
He added that everyone had made an effort to leave the door open for a potential new agreement.
The three parties representing Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats - the Party of Democratic Action, SDA, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, SNSD (led by Dodik), and the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ - emerged as the strongest in the country following the October 2018 vote.
They announced on August 8 they have agreed to form a government, putting a September 5 deadline for its vote-in office.
The proposed new prime minister is SNSD's candidate Zoran Tegeltija. Bosniak leaders, however, have said they will support him only if he backs the country's NATO membership bid.