European Official Koopman in BiH: Meeting with Members of the Collegia of Both Houses of BiH Parliament Scheduled

(Patria) - Gert Jan Koopman, Director-General of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, is visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On Friday, March 14, he will hold a meeting at the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH with members of the collegia of the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliament.

The Collegium of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament includes Denis Zvizdić, Marinko Čavara, and Darko Babalj, while the Collegium of the House of Peoples includes Kemal Ademović, Dragan Čović, and Nikola Špirić.

Koopman will meet with state and entity officials to discuss the reform laws necessary for BiH's progress on its European path. BiH has never submitted an agreed Reform Agenda based on which it could draw funds from the Growth Plan.

The European Council approved BiH's accession negotiations with the EU in March 2024, but the obligations on this path have not yet been fulfilled.

Koopman's visit comes at a time of one of the biggest crises since peace was established in BiH with the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement.

The leadership of the RS entity, led by Milorad Dodik, and the majority in the National Assembly of RS have voted for a series of laws that directly undermine some of the most important state institutions and prohibit them from operating on the territory of RS.

Although the Constitutional Court of BiH issued a temporary measure on March 7, suspending the unconstitutional laws, the authorities in RS have not stopped. Today, the NSRS is considering a new entity constitution declaring RS a state, as well as the Law on the Protection of the Constitutional Order of RS, which establishes a special prosecutor's office and court that will, among other things, prosecute those who do not respect and implement the decisions and laws of the RS entity.

A debate on BiH was held in the European Parliament due to the current political and security situation, and additional EUFOR forces have arrived in the country.