Members of the BiH Presidency travelling to Brussels

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be in Brussels from January 31 to February 2.

The Chairman of the BiH Presidency Dragan Čović and members Bakir Izetbegović and Mladen Ivanić are travelling to Brussels at the invitation of the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and the European People's Party (EPP), a high-ranking source confirmed to the Patria news agency, without specifying what the members of the BiH Presidency will discuss with Juncker.

Izetbegović will visit Turkey two days earlier together with the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, where they will talk with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe recently adopted a Resolution on Bosnia and Herzegovina, which on one hand welcomes progress in BiH such as the agreement on the Reform Agenda, the organization of the census, and the submission of the application for membership in the European Union, while on the other hand expresses concern over the lack of results related to the implementation of the Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes. 

The Resolution calls on political representatives in BiH to adopt a new Election Law no later than six months before the General Elections in October 2018.

The Resolution also expresses concern over the increasing disrespect for the rule of law in BiH and regret over the decision of Republika Srpska not to implement the BiH Court's decision on the registration of military property to the state, but also over the decision to hold a referendum on the Day of Republika Srpska despite the Constitutional Court's verdict.

The residency requirement related to the election of the three-member Presidency of the state should also be abolished, among other things, the Resolution states.

- Membership in the Council of Europe is not free. Whoever wants to be a member must commit to fulfilling their obligations. It is time to accept responsibility, to work, and to make BiH an equal member of the Council of Europe. Do not say it is impossible to make BiH a functional state, you are in parliament, people voted for you, you are responsible for it – said Tiny Kox, one of the rapporteurs of the Council of Europe.