Meeting of delegations of National Parliaments of the South-Eastern European countries in the OSCE PA held in Zagreb

 
Dr. Dragan Čović, Speaker of the House of Peoples of the BiH PA and a member of the Permanent Delegation of the BiH PA to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA), participated in the meeting of delegations of National Parliaments of the South-Eastern European countries in the OSCE PA, which was held today in Zagreb.

Members of delegations of BiH, Croatia and Serbia, acknowledged that they were gathering in a difficult time, as these three countries have been hit by natural disasters. They discussed the floods, as well as ways of mitigating this type of risk in the future.

Dragan Čović, the Speaker of the House of Peoples of the BiH PA, stressed that this situation shows that individually, we are small countries – that there is much significance in mutual regional co-operation. He added that the Sava and other rivers should be tamed, which is possible only through a large joint project and not by one country alone.

As Dr. Čović said, this situation shows that we need to re-organize and, instead of speculating whether more or less could have been done, we must first seek and find a way to help all affected families and to ensure their return to normal life.

Josip Leko, President of the Croatian Parliament, said today that Croatia, as an EU member, shall request assistance from European funds earmarked for such situations and that they will also seek assistance for neighbouring states, because of their shared suffering in the natural disasters.

During the meeting, the participants agreed that there are new challenges for each country and they should take advantage of joint capacity in our region. To this end, a Draft Resolution on Co-operation in South-East Europe was agreed, which will be submitted to the forthcoming Annual Session of the organization (June/July 2014, Baku,Azerbaijan).

The Resolution welcomes the progress made in regional co-operation among the Western Balkan countries and expresses support for the European perspective of the countries of South-Eastern Europe. Criticising the non-structural bias towards the countries of this region, the Resolution calls upon the EU to avoid the creation of artificial barriers for countries in the region that have not yet become members of the European Union.

The text of the Memorandum of Co-operation between the Delegations of the National Parliaments in South-Eastern European countries in the OSCE PA was also agreed, by which participants strive for friendly and good neighbour relations, and a common European perspective of all countries of South-East Europe, opting to encourage the implementation of the values ​​and standards of the OSCE and the European Union, and supporting the reforms needed in the region in the process of European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

By signing the Memorandum, the participants committed to the encouragement and promotion of mutual relations through co-operative partnership and agreement, strengthening of the role of the region of South-East Europe in the OSCE PA, and co-operation in the presentation and promotion of individual and collective interests in the three main dimensions of the OSCE's co-operation in the field of European and global security. (end)