“NO PROGRESS”: Bosnia and Herzegovina still in border disputes with Serbia, Croatia, and Montenegro!

Even thirty years after the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that country has not resolved the issue of borders with neighboring states — Serbia, Croatia, and Montenegro.

According to the report of the State Border Commission of BiH, as reported by Sarajevo media, no progress was recorded in resolving border issues with Croatia and Serbia in the first six months of this year, while activities on marking the border with Montenegro have been halted because the Council of Ministers of BiH did not give consent to the appointment of an expert group.

This concerns the appointment of the Expert Group for participation in the work of joint working bodies for the identification and marking of the state border with neighboring countries, regarding whose appointment the Commission rendered a decision, but the Council of Ministers of BiH did not give consent to that decision.

In the report, the absence of this consent is cited as the main obstacle to continuing activities on establishing the border between BiH and Montenegro.

With the Montenegrin side, talks continued on the basis of the Treaty on the State Border between BiH and Montenegro, signed in Vienna in 2015 and ratified by the Presidency of BiH in early 2016.

In the meantime, the Government of Montenegro rendered a decision on establishing its own commission for demarcation tasks, establishing the state border, and preparing international border treaties. At the level of the commissions of the two states, Instructions for drafting documentation on the state border and Instructions for marking the state border between BiH and Montenegro have already been adopted and signed.

One of the priorities, as stated, is also determining the tripoint border junction between BiH, Montenegro, and Croatia.

According to the report, the three sides agreed positions on this issue, including technical documentation and the proposed text of the protocol on determining the tripoint border junction.

The Commission is currently preparing the Basis for conducting negotiations to conclude the Protocol on determining the tripoint border junction between BiH, Montenegro, and Croatia, after which conditions should be created for signing the protocol.

It is added that consent from the Council of Ministers of BiH for the appointment of the expert group is crucial for the realization of this activity as well.

Unlike the process with Montenegro, in the first half of this year, according to the report of the State Commission, there were no activities on resolving border issues with Croatia and Serbia.

The State Commission addressed diplomatic notes to Croatia and Serbia expressing readiness of BiH to continue talks on the border, but, according to the report, responses to those diplomatic notes have not yet arrived.

In the report, the Council of Ministers of BiH is requested to adopt it and task the State Border Commission with continuing activities on regulating the border of BiH, in accordance with its planning documents, obligations under the decision on establishing the Commission, agreements with neighboring states, and international acts to which BiH is a signatory.