OHR: Electoral integrity should be separated from contentious political issues that have remained unresolved for years

(Patria) - High Representative Christian Schmidt met today with Kyriakos Hadjiyiannis, Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and Special Representative for South-Eastern Europe, and Head of the OSCE Mission in BiH, Brian Aggeler. The primary focus of the meeting was on reforms to improve the integrity of the electoral process and the priorities necessary for BiH to begin EU membership negotiations.

The High Representative reiterated that restoring public trust in the electoral system is priority number one for the authorities in BiH, considering that necessary improvements in terms of electoral integrity must be adopted in time for the local elections in October. In addition to considering deadlines, authorities must also ensure that any solution is in line with international standards and recommendations, which are well known to all actors, and that the focus is on empowering voters, not on expanding the influence of political parties.

To accelerate progress, electoral integrity should be separated from contentious political issues that have remained unresolved for years, although this in no way means that these overdue obligations have been removed from the agenda.

Expressing satisfaction with the close cooperation between the OHR and the OSCE, the High Representative emphasized the importance of a unified and decisive stance of the international community to help BiH achieve this key goal. The international community remains committed to supporting BiH on its path towards a more transparent and democratic electoral process, the OHR announced.