The delegation of the European Parliament, members of the Group of the Deputies of the European People’s Party (EPP) met with Chairman of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH (PA BiH) Mladen Bosic, the Chairman of the House of Peoples of Parliamentary Assembly of BiH Safet Softic and his two deputies Barisa Colak and Ognjen Tadic yesterday in Sarajevo.
European Parliamentarians, led by Vice President of the Group of Deputies of EPP Andrey Kovatchev, expressed their hope that the upcoming General Elections in BiH, as well as the process of forming the government after the elections, will not have a greater impact on the process of European integrations of our country. Furthermore, members of the European Parliament urged BH politicians to make efforts in order for our country to receive the status of candidate for EU membership during this convocation of the European Parliament and European Commission, or by the end of June 2019.
Member of the delegation of European Parliament and rapporteur for BiH Cristian Dan Preda informed the members of the collegium of both houses of the PA BiH that he presented the draft of the most recent report for our country, which, as he said, contains some positive elements. Preda expressed his hope that BiH will receive candidate status next year, and warned about the fact that the Parliamentary Stabilization and Association Committee, which is prescribed by the Stabilization and Association Agreement, has not been formed yet as a joint body of the PA BiH and the European Parliament.
Members of the leadership of both houses of the PA BiH noted the fact that the European integration process is a key factor for political stability in BiH, and they also noted that the stability of the Western Balkans as well as the EU has a large influence on that. Therefore, they noted that BiH should get the candidate status faster and thus catch up with our neighbouring countries, which already opened a large part of the chapter in the process of EU negotiations.
They condemned every act of violence against journalists, and the delegation of European parliamentarians suggested for political parties in BiH to reach an agreement on the protection of journalists and freedom of speech and media before the general elections.
(Source: Sarajevo Times)
