During break in negotiations on Election Law, Čović in Brussels with European Parliament officials

SARAJEVO, (Patria) – HDZ BiH President Dragan Čović used the break in negotiations on amendments to the Election Law and limited constitutional changes to travel to Brussels.

The Speaker of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina will meet with Members of the European Parliament today.

Čović will discuss the current political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the European Parliament's Rapporteur for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Paulo Rangel.

Čović will also hold a meeting with the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament, David McAllister. 

This will be an opportunity for Čović to reiterate his views on the so-called legitimate representation of Croats, as well as to express his vision of the current political situation in BiH.

The European Parliament has discussed BiH in the past period, and sanctions were requested for Milorad Dodik, the president of SNSD, who, with parties from the BiH entity of RS, initiated the blockade of state institutions, including the BiH Presidency, BiH Parliament, and the Council of Ministers of BiH. Numerous European parliamentarians have called for reactions from EU bodies, and some have visited BiH to express their support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of BiH. 

From November 29 to December 2, talks were held in Sarajevo with political representatives of both the government and the opposition, as well as civil society, with the US envoy for electoral reform Matthew Palmer and the Director for Europe in the European External Action Service, Angelina Eichhorst.

A new round of negotiations is expected in mid-December, and although Palmer stated that the deadline for necessary amendments to the Election Law and the Constitution of BiH to implement the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights is approaching, Čović, in his statements, linked this deadline to the end of December. 

Although not announced, Čović might use his stay in Brussels to meet with Eichhorst before his next visit to BiH.