German Special Envoy for the Western Balkans Manuel Sarrazin announced on Twitter that this country had officially supported the Dutch position, which opposes the notion of constituency in BiH within the Strategic Compass document.
”Germany officially supported the statement of the Netherlands on the Strategic Compass,” Sarrazin wrote, sharing a tweet from the Dutch government explaining why they welcomed the European Union’s (EU) decision to adopt this document which is relating to Europe’s defense and security.
The Government of the Netherlands emphasized in the tweet that the document also contains unacceptable formulations related to the definition of the term ‘‘constituent peoples” for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), which Sarrazin also emphasized.
”Important that BiH political actors move forward on the elimination of discrimination (i.e. Sejdic-Finci case) and integrity and fairness of elections as well as reform priorities,”said the special envoy.
Earlier, the Government of the Netherlands said that this country remains committed to the principles of equality and non-discrimination of all citizens in BiH.
”The Netherlands wishes to reaffirm that its agreement to the Strategic Compass does in no way signal a change in the Dutch general position to ensure equality and non-discrimination of all citizens in BiH, notably by implementing the Sejdic-Finci case law of the European Courts of Human Rights,” reads the statement.
Finally, they stressed that no political or legal step that would make the implementation of the Sejdic-Finci verdict more challenging or that would further deepen ethnic divisions in the country should be taken.
