Quint Ambassadors with BiH Parliament Leadership: Adopt Law Banning Genocide Denial

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Leadership members of both houses of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina discussed today with ambassadors and representatives of the Quint member countries, and the representative of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to BiH on possible ways to resolve the current political crisis in our country, and to remove the deadlock in the functioning of BiH institutions.

The focus of the Quint representatives, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to BiH Margret Uebber, the Ambassador of the USA to BiH Eric Nelson, the Chargé d'affaires of the Embassy of France to BiH Xavier Rouard, the Chargé d'affaires of the Embassy of Italy to BiH Matteo Evangelista, the Chargé d'affaires of the Embassy of the United Kingdom to BiH Neil Cavanagh, and the Head of the Section for European Integration, Political and Economic Affairs in the EU Delegation to BiH Krassimir Nikolov, was to explore the possibilities for the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH to adopt a law banning the denial of genocide and war crimes, as well as all forms of hate speech.

The ambassadors and representatives of the Quint countries also recalled the content of the letter that the High Representative for BiH Christian Schmidt sent to the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH on December 9 this year, which they assessed as a useful opportunity to open a dialogue on this topic in both houses of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, and as a chance for the Parliament to take responsibility and adopt a law that would be in line with international and European standards, which, as they said, would allow the withdrawal of the amendments to the Criminal Code of BiH previously imposed by former High Representative Valentin Inzko.

At the same time, the ambassadors and representatives of the Quint countries also called for the formation of a working group in the BiH Parliament as soon as possible, which would deal with drafting a bill banning the denial of genocide and war crimes, but also the issue of drafting a bill on state property, which is the content of the letter that High Representative Schmidt sent to the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH on December 3 this year.

They also called for the opening of a constructive dialogue within the institutions of BiH, and offered the support and assistance of the Quint member states and the EU in finding compromises and consensus on the aforementioned open issues.

In their addresses to the high-ranking guests, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH Denis Zvizdić, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Nebojša Radmanović, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Borjana Krišto, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Peoples Nikola Špirić, the Speaker of the Croat People's Caucus in the House of Peoples Lidija Bradara, on behalf of the Speaker of the House of Peoples Dragan Čović, and the Speaker of the Bosniak People's Caucus in the House of Peoples Asim Sarajlić, on behalf of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Peoples Bakir Izetbegović, presented different views on possible solutions regarding the adoption of the law on the denial of genocide and war crimes.

They agreed that the content of the imposed amendments to the Criminal Code is not disputed, as well as the need to open an internal political dialogue on this law and on the legal regulation of state property.

The highest officials of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH thanked the ambassadors and representatives of the Quint and the EU for their dedicated efforts to find solutions in BiH to overcome the political crisis, and expressed hope that today's meeting will contribute to a faster achievement of compromise on all open political issues and the stabilization of the overall political situation in BiH and the entire region.