The Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denis Bećirović, discussed with the newly elected Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York, the importance of enforcing court rulings that found discrimination against BiH citizens.
Bećirović congratulated the newly elected Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, former president of the Swiss Confederation, on assuming this important post, and emphasized the important role of the Council of Europe in strengthening democracy and human rights, as well as strengthening European unity and cooperation.
He said that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s membership in the Council of Europe implies respect and implementation of the highest democratic principles, the rule of law, as well as the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Bećirović reminded that the European Court of Human Rights has issued several judgments that found that there is discrimination against the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that is why it is extremely important to implement the court judgments that found discrimination against the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The judgments of the European Court of Human Rights obliged the state to eliminate discriminatory provisions from the Constitution of BiH and the Election Law, which is in accordance with the obligations of BiH as a member of the UN and the Council of Europe.
“I strongly advocate for the consistent implementation of all these judgments. The European Court of Human Rights has determined that the current political system has made ethnic representation more relevant than political, economic, social, philosophical and other determinants and thus strengthened ethnic divisions in the country and threatened the democratic character of the election,” Bećirović said.
He added, I expect the high representative in BiH, Christian Schmidt, to be responsible for the protection and development of human rights and civil liberties, in the way they are respected in the democratic countries of the West, underlined Bećirović.
He also emphasized that Bosnia and Herzegovina attaches special importance to cooperation with the member states of the Council of Europe, which is also reflected in its active participation in the work of that organization.
