KOŠARAC: BiH AS FAR FROM NATO AS KONAKOVIĆ IS FROM ELECTORAL VICTORY

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO, FEBRUARY 9 /SRNA/ – Today, realistically speaking, only Elmedin Konaković and other political representatives of the so-called Troika are still talking about BiH’s NATO membership, more as a comforting story for their own audience than as a serious and achievable policy, Staša Košarac, Council of Ministers Deputy Chair, told SRNA.

Košarac emphasized that everything else is either silence or a deliberate ignoring of facts.

He explained that the Reform Programme adopted today by the Council of Ministers does not represent any breakthrough or a “historic moment,” as Sarajevo’s political marketing experts are trying to present it.

“It is just another in a series of almost identical documents, following those from 2023 and 2024. Its content is well known to everyone: cooperation with NATO, but without any prejudging of membership. This is clearly written, clearly adopted, and clearly repeated - both today and earlier,” Košarac stressed.

Interestingly, he said, even NATO officials themselves no longer speak about BiH’s membership in the Alliance.

“They choose their words very carefully, respect internal relations in BiH, and know very well that there is no consensus on this issue. Yet the Troika fellows persistently talk about NATO membership because it is a convenient political topic they use to try to conceal their own lack of results.

The position of Republika Srpska and of us as its representatives is clear, consistent, and unchanged: cooperation with NATO is not disputed - it exists and will continue, but without prejudging membership. Everything else is Sarajevo rhetoric, empty slogans, and attempts to present political wishes as reality,” Košarac said.

He has added that reality is a stubborn thing proving that BiH today is as far from NATO membership as Konaković is close to winning an election.

“This is also clear to Konaković, a political Mr. Bean, who is vainly trying to convince his ever-shrinking electorate of his own delusions,” Košarac concluded.