BUDGET OF 1.58 BILLION BAM ADOPTED

SARAJEVO, JULY 27 /SRNA/ - The House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH adopted today the budget of institutions and international obligations of BiH for the year 2026 in the amount of 1.58 billion BAM.

Nine delegates voted in favor of the budget, five abstained, while one delegate was against.

The Head of the Caucus of Serb Delegates in the House of Peoples, Sredoje Nović, pointed out that it is important that all delegates are fundamentally in favor of the budget, emphasizing that from today's discussion by the delegates in the House of Peoples, it is evident that the budget is nevertheless not the most important document.

He added that it is unacceptable for families to be insulted during the discussion, stating that no one has the right to say anything about anyone's family.

Responding to the claims of Bosniak delegates that "seven cultural institutions" should have been included in the budget, Nović emphasized that the Federation of BiH had previously taken over the management of these institutions, which is why they cannot be in the BiH budget.

The Chair of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, Dragan Čović, said that the budget is a strategic matter for BiH, and reminded that in previous years it was not adopted at all.

The delegate of the Croat Caucus, Zlatko Miletić, stated during the budget debate that much more funding should have been provided for demining than the planned 650,000 BAM.

The delegate of the Serb Caucus, Želimir Nešković, said that he could not support such a budget, which is why he abstained from voting, while the Head of the Bosniak Caucus, Šefik Džaferović, who also abstained during the vote, said he did so for two reasons: the first being that a budget is needed, while the second reason for his abstention was the salaries of employees in institutions at the BiH level.

The Head of the Croat Caucus, Marina Pendeš, pointed out that the budget is the main document necessary for the functioning of every country, which is why the delegates coming from the HDZ supported the budget.

With this, today's urgent session of the House of Peoples was concluded, while the start of the regular session of this house is scheduled for 14:30.