Members of the Collegium of both Houses of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina spoke with the European Parliament Rapporteur for Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH PA) Šefik Džaferović, Deputy Speaker, Borjana Krišto, and Deputy Speakers of the BiH PA House of Peoples, Ognjen Tadić and Safet Softić, met today in Sarajevo with the European Parliament Rapporteur for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Christian Dan Preda, to discuss the current political situation in our country in light of the continuing process of European integration in accordance with the European Union’s (EU) new approach towards BiH.

During discussions with members of both BiH PA Houses, Mr. Dan Preda stated that BiH currently holds an excellent position before the European Parliament and that all European Parliament political groups strongly support the EU's new initiative towards BiH. Stressing that our country should take full advantage of this position, Mr. Dan Preda invited leading parliamentarians to establish strong co-operation with the European Parliament which, he said, should become a driving force to accelerate the reforms necessary for BiH to acquire EU candidate status.

Stressing that the BiH PA, through the Joint Committee for European Integration, is working intensively to establish a new Joint Committee of the European Parliament and the BiH PA, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Šefik Džaferović, expressed his expectation that the authorities at all levels in BiH will quickly eliminate any present delays in accepting the European agenda. 

Pointing out that he hopes that BiH will not fail to take advantage of the favourable climate and mood of the European institutions, Speaker Džaferović thanked Mr. Dan Preda for his approach, and noted that he is considered the best ambassador for our country in the European Parliament.

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Borjana Krišto, welcomed Mr. Dan Preda's arrival and his balanced approach to all matters under the European Parliament Rapporteur for BiH's remit, emphasizing that many of the European agenda's issues, including the question of establishing a co-ordination mechanism, would become more technical than political, were we to address those issues surrounding Constitutional changes in accordance with the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the position of constituent peoples and amending electoral legislation in line with that position. 

The Deputy Speaker of the BiH PA House of Peoples, Ognjen Tadić, said that this country’s priority should be to substantially improve citizens’ quality of life, as well as to establish a true democratic order and rule of law. In this regard, Mr. Tadić emphasized the joint work of BiH government institutions and the EU to protect manufacturers and employers in our country, to amend Election Law which would, he said, ensure that all political actors become more serious, as well as to change the functioning of BiH’s judicial and police structures.

The European Parliament Rapporteur for BiH announced that a new European Commission report on our country’s progress will be announced at the beginning of October this year. (End)