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STRASBOURG/SARAJEVO, November 26 (FENA) - A delegation from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe is carrying out a preparatory mission to Sarajevo and Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 26 and 27 November 2019, in preparation for the local elections to be held in October 2020. Members of the European Committee of the Regions of the European Union are accompanying the Congress delegation.
On 26 November, in Sarajevo, the delegation holds exchanges with Mr Valentin Inzko, High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr Nebojša Radmanović, Deputy Speaker in the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, Mr Branko Petrić, President of the Central Election Commission of BiH, and Mr Zlatko Knežević, President of the BiH Constitutional Court.
On the same day, further to a briefing with Ambassador Drahoslav Stefanek, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Sarajevo, meetings were held with representatives of the international community, including Mr Joeri Maas, Chief of Policy and Planning, OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr Khaldoun Sinno, Deputy Head of the European Union Delegation to BiH.
On 27 November, in Mostar, the delegation will hold an exchange with Mrs Irma Baralija, Naša Stranka, on the 29 October decision of the European Court of Human Rights ruling that Bosnia and Herzegovina was in violation of the European Convention of Human rights as it did not hold municipal elections in Mostar for more than a decade. In response to this situation, the Congress has set up, in 2017, a "Reflection Group on Mostar" to help restore local democracy in this city, which has been in a political deadlock since 2008.
This meeting will be followed by a presentation by Congress Expert Marcin Gerwin, PhD, on “Building Democratic Participation in the City of Mostar” – innovative local initiatives on citizen participation for representatives of political parties and NGOs, and an exchange of views with representatives of political parties and civil society, stated the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in a press release.
(FENA) S. R.
