What was supposed to be a routine vote after a 30-minute break, requested at 2:30 PM for the Collegium to convene, turned into a marathon wait and uncertainty. The session formally resumed only at 4:40 PM, but a new break was immediately requested, for which there were not enough votes. A minute later, MP Damir Mašić (SDP) confirmed what had been speculated in the corridors—the parliamentarians are actually waiting for the FBiH Government to submit an amendment to the proposed law. What exactly the amendment entails and what it changes in the text of the law is still unknown. Mašić added that the session should resume around 5:30 PM.
The Battle Over the American Investor and BH Gas Recall that this law is the only item on the agenda of today’s session, and the FBiH Government sent it into an urgent procedure. The essence of the amendments to the law is the introduction of an American investor, the company AAFS Infrastructure and Energy d.o.o. (registered in Sarajevo and fully owned by the American AAFS Infrastructure and Energy LLC), while simultaneously excluding the jurisdiction of the domestic "BH Gas" over this gas pipeline.
Before the session entered a marathon break, MPs engaged in a heated debate. MP Dragan Mioković (Our Party) stated that this is primarily a question of geopolitical positioning, emphasizing that they insisted on a clause stating that the investor cannot be changed without the consent of the Parliament. The head of the NES-PDA Club, Irfan Durić, holds a similar view, noting that this is one of the largest post-war projects. "We should be satisfied and happy that the U.S. is investing in BiH. This gives us high state security," said Durić, while Amra Junuzović Kaljić (NiP) added that this is the most important energy law because it frees the country from dependence on a single direction and a single producer.
The responsible minister, Vedran Lakić, defended the project, stating that the new amendments also include branches towards Grude, Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje, Donji Vakuf, Čapljina, as well as a new route from Kladanj to Tuzla. This very branch was fiercely defended by Admir Čavalić (SBiH), asking critics why Tuzla should be excluded from the project and expressing hope that Milorad Dodik will not cause problems at the state level.
While the Parliament awaits the mysterious Government amendment, the sharp warnings from the non-governmental sector should not be forgotten. The Aarhus Center in BiH and the CEE Bankwatch Network have called for the withdrawal of the law from the urgent procedure. Nina Kreševljaković from the Aarhus Center warned that the law is not in line with the Constitution and that it "opens the door for favoring an unknown investor without experience," whose only reference, they claim, is political ties with Donald Trump. Pippa Gallop from the CEE Bankwatch Network added a devastating fact—the FBiH Government has never calculated how much this project will cost the citizens of the Federation of BiH.
The House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament should discuss this law in seven days, if it even receives the green light today in the House of Representatives.