BiH: Agreement on how to come to solution on pressing issues

The representatives of the European Commission, and institutional and political leaders from Bosnia and Herzegovina held the third meeting of the High Level Dialogue on the Accession Process in Brussels on 1 October and jointly agreed these Conclusions:

Conclusions

During the meeting in Brussels on 1 October 2013, the seven leaders of the main political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina:

Mladen Bosić, President of Serb Democratic Party (SDS)

Dr. Dragan Čović, President of Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ BiH)

Milorad Dodik, President of Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD)

Professor Dr. Zlatko Lagumdžija, President of Social Democratic Party of BiH (SDP BiH)

Dr. Martin Raguž, President of Croatian Democratic Union 1990 (HDZ 1990)

Mirsad Džonlagić, Vice President of Union for a Better Future of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SBB BiH)

Bakir Izetbegović, Vice President of Party of Democratic Action (SDA)

Agreed to take forward the implementation of the Sejdić-Finci ruling of the European Court of Human Rights by fully honouring the following principles:

1. Full acceptance of the necessity to implement the judgment urgently by providing every BiH citizen with the right to stand for election to the BiH Presidency and House of Peoples.

2. The Presidency of BiH shall consist of three directly elected members;

3. Two members will be directly elected from the territory of the Federation (FBiH) according to the model to be agreed, and one shall be directly elected from the territory of the Republika Srpska (RS). The FBiH and RS are each one constituency.

4. A citizen of BiH who is recorded to vote for the Brčko District shall have the right to vote for the member of BiH Presidency either in RS or in FBiH, in line with the applicable legislation.

5. Agree, by 10 October, on electoral modalities that will meet the legitimate concerns of the Constituent Peoples and “Others”, while meeting international standards. The method of election of the two Presidency Members from FBiH through amendments of the Constitution and Election Law, should, in addition to the Strasbourg Court ruling, prevent imposing the outcome of election results on any Constituent Peoples or “Others”.

6. The parties agree to finalise modalities for the establishment of an effective and efficient coordination mechanism on EU matters by respecting the principles of inclusion based on competencies, enshrined in the constitutions in BiH, which will be presented on 10 October.

7. The 3rd session of the High Level Dialogue on the Accession Process shall be resumed on 10 October in Brussels under the chairmanship of the Commissioner Štefan Füle.

After the meeting, Commissioner Füle said: "We had a good discussion and a lot of work has been done. We decided to put on hold this third session of HLDAP and resume it on 10 October.

"It was a productive meeting, where all participants worked seriously and made constructive contribution."

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