Namely, state property is an issue that should become the primary political question in the coming months. For years, there has been no consensus among domestic politicians to resolve it, given that political representatives of the Republika Srpska entity do not accept the concept of state property, believing that the state should not own property.
On the other hand, parties based in the Federation of BiH, primarily those declaring themselves as pro-Bosnian, believe that state property is essentially state-owned and can be allocated for use by lower levels of government.
The third aspect of the whole story is the increasing pressure from foreigners who want to prioritize solving this issue because the current situation hinders numerous investment projects. And since the start of construction of the Southern Interconnection, along with a series of other projects, is a priority for the American administration in BiH above all, state property is the next topic on the table for urgent resolution.
Klix.ba previously reported that the Quint countries (five NATO member states - the U.S., Great Britain, France, Germany, and Italy) are intensively working to find a solution. And the solution can come either from domestic leaders or be imposed by foreigners, which could potentially open new problems.
The OHR says that the Constitutional Court of BiH was very clear: the state is the holder of property rights over state property, and the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH has exclusive jurisdiction to regulate state property issues.
"The disposal ban is, above all, a means to protect the interests of the state in this process and ensure compliance with relevant decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH. Within the disposal ban, there is a mechanism that allows special exceptions if it is in the public interest, and that is certainly one way to resolve the current blockade of important investment and development projects. However, for a permanent solution, political will and readiness for compromise by domestic political actors are needed," the OHR told FENA.
Such a message indicates that the international factor in BiH will also try to secure political consensus on this issue, but with necessary compromises, meaning that everyone will have to give up some demands.
For the Americans, it is particularly important that state property be urgently resolved, because without it, there will be no start of work on the Southern Interconnection, and probably not on many other projects either.
What the announced compromises regarding state property will be will be shown in the next few months.