Members of the Collegium of the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina spoke with the President of the House of Representatives of the Italian Parliament

 
Members of the Collegium of the House Representatives and the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina met today with the President of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Italy Laura Boldrini who is paying an official visit to our country.

At the opening of the meeting, the Speaker of the House of Representatives Šefik Džaferović expressed his hope that relations between the two friendly countries will continue to thrive and that it will help increase their commercial exchange above the current level of 1,4 billion euros. Mr. Džaferović added that he was confident that the positive trends contribute to the good inter-parliamentary cooperation and that the agreements on economic cooperation and development in the field of agriculture and rural development will be agreed and ratified soon.

The Speaker of the House of Peoples Barisa Čolak said today that constitutional reform and change of electoral legislation, as well as economic reforms that contribute to a better life for citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are among the country’s priorities. The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Borjana Krišto pointed out that any delay of these reforms represents a real barrier to the development of BiH , both with respect to its internal reforms and its European integration process. The Deputy Speaker of the House of Peoples Safet Softić particularly underlined that = parliaments should have a significant role in the development process and that decisions should not be made in political power centers outside the legislature.

Ms. Boldrini offered her hosts a draft Protocol on cooperation of parliaments of Italy and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which, according to her, would be a concrete form of cooperation to help BiH on its European path. It was announced that the final text of the Protocol will be signed after it passes through usual parliamentary procedure.

On behalf of the Parliamentary Assembly, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Parliamentary Assembly of BiH Šefik Džaferović, expressed special thanks to Mrs. Laura Boldrini on her representing the Republic of Italy at the ceremony and funerals marking the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide. (End)