IMF: Dodik’s rhetoric endangers economy and finances

The separatism pursued by the Republika Srpska (Serb entity) authorities has endangered BiH’s economic and financial stability, and unless those trends stop, the consequences for the country and entities could be very serious, an International Monetary Fund official has warned.

Alina Iancu, who has taken over as Mission Chief for BiH at the IMF headquarters in Washington, said in an interview with Banja Luka’s Nezavisne Novine that developments in the country’s political affairs called into question estimates that its economy would grow by 4.5% of GDP.

The special US envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, also met in Sarajevo with members of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in BiH (AmCham BiH), and Milorad Dodik, leader of Republika Srpska.

Dodik, after the meeting with Escobar, explained the problem with the army. “The public must know that the Armed Forces of BiH cannot fill the quotas as planned for Serbs and Croats because people don’t want to go to that army. The solution we see is the reduction, because we do not want Bosniaks filling the quotas for Serbs and Croats and to one day get a Muslim army.”

Escobar said the meeting was “productive” and that they had discussed withdrawing potentially destabilising legislation.

“I was glad that I had a productive meeting with Mr Dodik where he was open to discussing withdrawing all of the legislation that would weaken the central institutions [of the state] so that we could continue working on the questions of economic integration,” Escobar said at a press conference.

As tensions continue to simmer in the region, a group of members of the US Congress sent a letter to President Joe Biden, urging him to consider imposing sanctions on those destabilising the Western Balkans.

(Željko Trkanjec | EURACTIV.hr)