June 2 (SeeNews) - Bosnian security minister Fahrudin Radoncic said on Tuesday he is resigning over illegal migration and corruption issues.
"The reasons are principled," Radoncic said in a statement, which was uploaded on the website of his centre-right Union for a Better Future of BiH (SBB) party. He added that he had been waiting for the coronavirus pandemic to end and his successor to be chosen to step down.
Radoncic said that one reason for his resignation was that he did not share the views of Bosnian presidency member Sefik Dzaferovic and foreign minister Bisera Turkovic about the migration crisis in Bosnia.
Radoncic has pressed for the legal deportation of some 9,500 illegal migrants, while the other two officials had opposed his plan.
Radoncic also said his resignation reflected his belief that the relations between the main parties comprising Bosnia's governing coalition - the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) and the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) - are not conducive to a working environment.
"Citizens expect results from the Council of Ministers but the Council of Ministers is held hostage to relations between SDA, HDZ and SNSD, and I think that unfortunately the long-term prospects are not optimistic, so sometimes you have to exit a venture which you think is not good," Radoncic said.
"The participation of SBB [in the government] at state level has ended. As far as the Federation is concerned, we are there with a technical mandate. As for the Tuzla Canton and the Zarajevo Canton,they are stable so far."
Radoncic said another reason for his resignation was the so called 'Respirator affair' involving officials from the Federation entity, including the entity's prime minister Fadil Novalic. The officials were allegedly involved in the illegal supply of 100 respirators from China amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Bosnia's current government was voted in office in December 2019, more than a year after the October 2018 general election, after SDA, SNSD, and HDZ, who represents the Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats, respectively, finally reached an agreement to jointly run the country.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is made up of two autonomous entities - the Federation and the Serb Republic.
(1 euro = 1.95583 marka)