Dodik called on the National Assembly of Republika Srpska to accept the BiH Presidency's statement on the country's European path

The president of the Bosnian entity Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, today called on MPs in the National Assembly of RS to accept the joint statement of the BiH Presidency on the European path of BiH, while respecting the competencies of RS defined by the Dayton Agreement, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

Dodik had previously convened a special session of the Assembly, for which he said it should give consent to the harmonized text of the statement drafted by the BiH Presidency.

The Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina previously harmonized a statement by which it commits that the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina will implement all necessary reforms to establish institutional functionality and efficiency at all levels of government and enable Bosnia and Herzegovina to prepare for future membership in the EU as a sovereign state, which meets the conditions and obligations for that membership.

It was stated that an effective coordination mechanism of institutions at all levels of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the process of accession to the EU will be established as soon as possible. The initiative for the joint statement on commitment to reforms in BiH to be signed by members of the BiH Presidency, heads of parliamentary parties, and deputies in the PS BiH was launched by Great Britain and Germany, as part of the international community's new approach to BiH, which should accelerate BiH's entry into the EU.

Dodik said that RS is committed to the European path of BiH and is grateful to the EU for the initiative aimed at unblocking the European path, but that this European path must not be at the expense of the competencies of RS, which he said were partly usurped from RS by illegal actions of high representatives from the end of the conflict until 2007.

Mladen Ivanić, the Serb member of the BiH Presidency, said in his address that this statement is good for RS and for BiH because it brings them closer to Europe, but that it does not mean a change in competencies, reports NAP.