Members of the Joint Collegium of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH (BiH PA) spoke with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Mr. Edgars Rinkevičs, at a meeting with members of the Joint Collegium of the BiH PA, confirmed that the Council of Ministers of the European Union will discuss the situation in BiH next week and pass a Decision on the Entering into Force of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) between BiH and the EU.

The Latvian Head of Diplomacy, a country which currently holds the EU presidency, expressed his country’s readiness, and that of other EU countries, to lend their full support and assistance to the implementation of reform processes on BiH’s European path.
Mr. Rinkevičs urged the rapid forming of government at all levels in BiH, including the establishment of a co-ordination mechanism, as an essential tool for implementing European reforms and for adopting legislation harmonized with European standards. Emphasizing the important role of the BiH PA in BiH’s process of European integration, including the need to establish good bilateral relations between BiH and Latvia, Minister Rinkevičs urged the Joint Collegium of the BiH PA to establish a Parliamentary Friendship Group with Latvia.

Joint Collegium members expressed their gratitude to the Minister for his visit and to Latvia and the EU’s readiness to strongly support BiH’s progress on the European path. Also, the members expressed their expectation that, in the next few days, the Council of Ministers of BiH will be formed and, along with the Council of Ministers of the EU, will develop a road map of reforms, whose implementation would lead BiH to become a credible candidate for EU membership.

In addition, Joint Collegium members outlined that all major political parties in BiH have jointly committed to continue on BiH’s European path and have outlined the need to stabilize the political situation in the country. Thus, opportunities to develop economic and foreign investment will be opened, and citizens’ standard of living will be improved. Therefore, the entering into force of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) between BiH and the EU would be important and welcome news, which would give reason to be optimistic and which would secure a better future for BiH’s citizens.

The Chairperson of the BiH PA House of Representatives, Šefik Džaferović and his Deputy Chairpersons, Borjana Krišto and Mladen Bosić, as well as the Chairperson of the BiH PA House of Peoples, Bariša Čolak and his Deputy Chairperson, Safet Softić, attended the meeting with Minister Rinkevičs. (end)