The President of the Croatian National Assembly (HNS) of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Dragan Covic, sent a letter to the international mediators in the negotiations on electoral reform, Matthew Palmer and Angelina Eichhorst.
He thanked Palmer and Eichorst for their efforts over the past year and a half in finding solutions that would fully implement the political agreements from Mostar signed on June 17th, 2020. He stressed that the commitment and expertise were of utmost importance for the process that ended with the negotiations in Neum at the end of January 2022.
Covic reminded that thanks to the efforts made, shortly after the signing, they successfully implemented the agreement relating to the City of Mostar, and after twelve years, democratic elections were held for the City Council of the City of Mostar.
“This rightly aroused our optimism, which was necessary for resolving open issues in the relations between Bosniaks and Croats,” Covic told.
On the other hand, he added that the agreement which refers to the legitimate election and legitimate political representation of constituent peoples and citizens at all administrative and political levels, in the Presidency of BiH and the Houses of Peoples, and ensuring the active and passive right of every citizen throughout BiH, despite the efforts of the HNS BiH, remains unfulfilled.
Also, he recalled how, in cooperation with Palmer and Eichorst, they held hundreds of hours of negotiations on limited amendments to the BiH Constitution and electoral legislation to implement decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and the BiH Constitutional Court, including U-23/14, and implement relevant OSCE recommendations of the OSCE/ODIHR and the Venice Commission in line with European standards.
Finally, while expressing deep gratitude to Palmer and Eichorst for their commitment and support to BiH, all its peoples and citizens on the Euro-Atlantic path, which despite all the difficulties and challenges remains our only perspective, Covic added in a letter to Palmer and Eichorst that “persistent dialogue and compromise are the only way to build, unfortunately already deeply damaged, trust and reconciliation, which will allow us to turn a new page in favor of our country’s Euro-Atlantic future.”
E.Dz.
Source: BHRT
