Omerhodžić: Bosnia and Herzegovina's fate is now in Moneyval's hands

The session of the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina will not be held today despite the initiative of the Bosniak Caucus. The session is scheduled for June 6, but six days after the deadline given by the Committee of Experts of the Council of Europe (MONEYVAL) to BiH to adopt the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, writes the Patria News Agency.

This law was adopted by the House of Representatives, but this is only a partial solution, because without confirmation in the House of Peoples, the law is effectively not adopted. Samir Omerhodžić, a member of the BiH delegation to Moneyval, says that the conclusions reached at the meeting of this body in Strasbourg are clear.

- It was then stated that if BiH does not adopt the laws by June 1, there will be an official announcement that BiH is uncooperative, that it does not apply international standards. This is now a partial solution. I am not sure if they will accept it. BiH institutions will inform the Moneyval Committee about what happened. Whether they will be lenient and have patience for all these situations we are in, I don't know. I wouldn't prejudge the solution. This is a specific situation and I can't say anything new. Now all matters are in the hands of the Moneyval committee – says Omerhodžić.

Bosnia and Herzegovina now faces being placed on a blacklist of countries, along with Ukraine, Iran, and North Korea, in the area of money laundering and terrorist financing.