AMIDŽIĆ: GOOD THAT BiH AVOIDED MONEYVAL BLACKLIST WITH NORTH KOREA AND IRAN ON IT

BANJA LUKA, JUNE 19 /SRNA/ – The Minister of Finance and Treasury in the Council of Ministers Srđan Amidžić believes that BiH's placement on the MONEYVAL grey list will make business operations more difficult, but noted that it is positive that the country avoided being placed on the blacklist, where North Korea and Iran are listed.

"The grey list complicates doing business in BiH, but it does not restrict it in the way some individuals would like to portray. Countries such as Romania and Monaco are also on this list," Amidžić told reporters in Banja Luka.

He explained that the conditions for preventing BiH from being placed on the grey list were clearly defined, but that "some parties are trying to use those requirements to push through certain measures that would entail a transfer of competencies".

"In BiH, under the banner of the `European path,` we have often been asked to give up part of our rights. BiH does not have to remain on the grey list if our colleagues from the Federation of BiH accept realities that are primarily technical in nature instead of turning them into a political issue," Amidžić explained.

He argued that this reflects a broader issue with the political establishment in Sarajevo, which, in his view, did not obtain the state structure it sought at the end of the war and is now trying in peacetime to create a single state called BiH without entities.

"Our colleagues from the Federation are giving this issue a political context. I want this matter to be resolved as soon as possible. Republika Srpska will not abandon its principles, just as we did not do when it came to opening the new border crossing in Gradiška. We remained firm in our positions, yet the border crossing was opened," Amidžić stressed.

He concluded that Republika Srpska will remain steadfast in its positions and will not allow anyone from Sarajevo to decide what will be done in Banja Luka.