26 people died in flash floods and landslides from the beginning of October, and the question is whether the EU will help us, because we complete the tasks at 12:50
Bosnia and Herzegovina submitted an application for access to the EU Solidarity Fund for flooded areas at the last minute. In the torrential floods and landslides that hit central Bosnia and northern Herzegovina at the beginning of October, 26 people died, and the damage, according to some estimates that have reached the public, is almost 140 million euros.
Waiting for others
Although the application has been submitted, economic experts believe that this does not mean that Bosnia and Herzegovina will receive the money.
Borjana Krišto, chairwoman of the BiH Council of Ministers, officially submitted an application for funds from the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) on Thursday evening (on the day of the deadline, op. a) with the aim of repairing the damage caused by the devastating floods that hit our country in October.
The content of the application by which BiH requests funds from the EU Solidarity Fund is a secret, as is the FBiH Government Regulation on salaries
This step, the Cabinet of the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina points out, represents an important moment for Bosnia and Herzegovina, because this is the first time that our country has the opportunity to apply for funds from this important European solidarity mechanism.
Igor Gavran, an economic analyst, points out that it is positive that the application has been submitted, because it gives a chance for BiH to be approved for funds that will come in handy in any case, regardless of when they arrive.
“What is unfortunate is that in all such cases, everything is resolved at the last moment, and it is quite possible that some mistake was made,” says Gavran.
We are waiting for a donation from the European Union, just as we were waiting for a donation from the Turkish railroad company
He also looked critically at the fact that the authorities, instead of explaining why the application was so late and why it was not a priority, do not give an answer but instead praise themselves, as if they had completed a doctorate.
“It was a demanding job, but it could and had to be done faster. So much time has passed that all the damage should have been remedied and these funds should have been used only to compensate for the costs of remediation, not to leave nothing to be done, for people to spend the winter in who knows what kind of accommodation, if the infrastructure was not repaired, that we still don’t have a railway and we are waiting for someone else to give something from the side”, Gavran points out.
No priority
He reminds that someone was waiting for someone to donate for the rehabilitation of the railway line.
“For a Turkish company to do what we needed, and now we are waiting for a handout from the EU, and all the huge debts and loans that are taken, all the money from income, from VAT and others, seem to disappear, as if the citizens who suffered they were not a priority, but you have to wait for someone else to do it. As if infrastructure and the economy are not a priority, we simply have a completely abnormal sequence of moves. I’m afraid that the authorities will wait for these funds to arrive, if they do, and that they will remain passive until then and do nothing,” emphasizes Gavran.
He says that he is not sure that the calculations on the assessment of damages are correct, and that it is difficult to know, because everything is shrouded in secrecy, as well as the Regulation of the FBiH Government on salaries.
“When everything is kept confidential, secret, it is difficult to make a judgment. All we have to do is wait,” Gavran points out.
Source: liberation
