Speaker of the House of Representatives Marinko Čavara spoke with the Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH

The Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PABiH) Marinko Čavara spoke with the Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, Ambassador Brian Aggeler.

During the meeting, mutual satisfaction was expressed with the outcome of the last session of the House of Representatives of the PABiH and the noteworthy progress achieved with the adoption of three laws fulfilling the priorities set out in the Opinion of the European Commission on BiH's application for membership in the European Union (EU). Speaker Čavara expressed his confidence that the Council of Ministers of BiH would submit a number of certain legislative resolutions into the parliamentary procedure by the end of this week, fulfilling the key priorities set out in the Opinion of the European Commission, and that the next session of the House of Representatives would be equally successful with the aim of accelerating BiH's European path, on which, he said, there was agreement among all the key political forces in BiH.

During the meeting, the interlocutors also mentioned the continuation of discussions on amendments to the Electoral Law of BiH, both in terms of adopting solutions that would improve the integrity of the electoral process and fulfilling the decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH and the decision of the European Court of Human Rights. In this regard, Speaker Čavara expressed strong support and commitment to the reform of the electoral legislation, required to ensure conditions for fair and transparent elections in our country as per solutions that will be applicable and enforceable and will enable the citizens and constituent peoples to elect their legitimate representatives at all levels of government.

Speaker Čavara supported the initiative of the OSCE Mission to BiH to hold a meeting to discuss taking concrete actions to prevent and combat gender-based violence. Announcing his participation in this meeting, which will be held early next week in Sarajevo, Speaker Čavara condemned all forms of violence, drawing particular attention to the need to fully implement existing legal solutions and the problem of their non-implementation. Čavara expressed the hope that the announced meeting of representatives of the executive and legislative authorities at all levels will result in concrete solutions that will prevent violence and provide full support to victims of all types of violence.

The interlocutors also discussed the need for signing a new Memorandum of Co-operation between the OSCE Mission to BiH and the PABiH, the content of which, it was said, would reflect the priorities in the work of the supreme legislative institution in BiH. Thanking the representatives of the OSCE Mission to BiH for their previous co-operation and concrete assistance, Mr. Čavara expressed support to the signing of a new Memorandum and the continuation of good co-operation between the PABiH and the OSCE Mission to BiH. (end)