Christian Schmidt has published an authentic interpretation of the Decision enacting the Law on Amendments to the Law on Financing the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina of 17 July 2025.
As stated in the interpretation published on the website of the Office of the High Representative, the purpose of this act is to eliminate legal uncertainties in the application of statutory provisions, chiefly those concerning the allocation and operational availability of funds from the profits of the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina intended to finance the introduction of new technologies for the 2026 General Elections.
Schmidt’s interpretation follows repeated requests by the Minister of Finance and Treasury of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Srđan Amidžić (SNSD), for the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina to adopt a separate decision, outside the High Representative’s ruling, to enable the operational use of unspent funds. According to the High Representative’s authentic interpretation, it is clearly established that “the operative part of the Decision (Articles 1 to 10) … does not require additional acts in order to have full legal effect”, meaning that the funds allocated by the Decision must be available and operational without the adoption of further decisions or conditions.
Through this act, Schmidt made it clear to Amidžić that the Ministry of Finance and Treasury and other bodies cannot delay the implementation of the Decision on the grounds of alleged procedural uncertainties.
“Therefore, the competent authorities are legally obliged to implement the adopted Decision as it stands, without imposing additional technical or procedural preconditions, thereby ensuring the introduction of electoral technologies envisaged for the holding of the General Elections in October 2026 and safeguarding the integrity and transparency of the electoral process,” the interpretation states.
In practical terms, this means that the funds for the introduction of new electoral technologies are effectively ring-fenced for that purpose, leaving no room for additional interpretations or administrative conditions.
Schmidt further emphasised that the funds allocated under this Decision must remain at the disposal of the Central Election Commission throughout the entire 2026 fiscal year. The authentic interpretation explicitly states that Minister Amidžić is obliged, without delay, to transfer all unspent funds into the 2026 fiscal year and ensure their availability for the intended purpose within one day of the publication of the authentic interpretation on the official website of the Office of the High Representative.
If the minister fails to act within that deadline, the obligation and authority automatically pass to the deputy minister, who is required to carry out the transfer without delay.
Failure by the minister to transfer the funds without delay, that is, within one day of the publication of this authentic interpretation on the official website of the Office of the High Representative, directly entails the obligation and authority of the deputy minister to execute the transfer without delay.
By way of reminder, in July last year Schmidt adopted a decision allocating funds from the profits of the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Central Election Commission for the introduction of new technologies in elections. The amount in question is 112.5 million convertible marks.
(EUpravo zato)
