THERE CAN BE NO DISCUSSION ON THE INTEGRATED PLAN FOR POSTAL REFORM

SARAJEVO, JUNE 16 /SRNA/ - Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Staša Košarac stated today that the proposal of the decision on adopting an integrated plan for postal reform and development cannot be discussed without previously adopted strategies at the level of Republika Srpska, the Federation of BiH /FBiH/, and the Brčko District.

Košarac said that this proposal was on the agenda of today's session of the Council of Ministers, noting that Minister of Transport and Communications Edin Forto had been repeatedly told that the postal development strategies of the entities must be integrated into this strategy.

"An outline strategy at the level of BiH cannot assign the entities the task of designing their strategies. Forto must understand that the Council of Ministers is not a central authority," Košarac emphasized.

Regarding the agenda item concerning the situation at BHRT, Košarac expressed sympathy for the employees of this media outlet but condemned its editorial policy.

"The fact that Forto promises all sorts of things without reading the laws is his own business, because the BHRT debt was not created by the institutions of BiH, but by BHRT itself. The conclusions proposed by Forto are not in accordance with the law, so the Minister of Finance cannot act based on them," Košarac told reporters in Sarajevo, and added that Forto should stop with the populism.

Košarac also emphasized that funding for seven cultural institutions will never be provided from the BiH level because there is no legal basis for that.

"The issue of their visibility in the budget of institutions is persistently raised through BHRT and seven cultural institutions, even though it is known that there is no legal framework for them to be included in the budget of BiH institutions," Košarac stated.

He also said that the decisions related to the functionality and efficiency of the Expert Team for the Trgovska Gora issue have been supported, adding that the commitment of the institutions of Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH, as well as the Council of Ministers, is to adequately treat the members of the teams for Trgovska Gora, which is a good basis for joint action regarding this problem.

Košarac also added that BiH's diplomatic and consular missions around the world must become more actively involved in this issue.