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SARAJEVO, June 28 (FENA) - Speaker of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bakir Izetbegović attended today the meeting of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) with the speakers of the parliaments of the Western Balkans.
Addressing the gathering, Izetbegović pointed out that AFET has a very important role in the process of European integration, and that the activities, attitudes and recommendations of that committee represent important guidelines for the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH and other institutions involved in the integration process.
“The content of the last Report on BiH prepared by the rapporteur Paulo Rangel, as well as the amendments of the MPs and the way in which these amendments were treated, show a high level of knowledge and understanding of the situation in BiH, its needs on the path to membership, and especially confirm the commitment of the members of this Committee for the European future of BiH,” said Izetbegović.
The Speaker of the House of Peoples thanked the members of AFET for the recognized need to include representatives of all parliamentary parties, with the mediation of EU representatives and the involvement of civil society, in talks on constitutional reform and electoral legislation.
“Regular communication and coordination of activities with this Committee, the European Parliament and other EU institutions is essential for BiH's path to EU membership. The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed the full extent of the importance of this cooperation,” said Izetbegović.
Izetbegović reminded that BiH is also facing a migrant crisis, and that a large number of illegal migrants, who want to reach the countries of Western Europe, enter BiH as a transit country, and that their passage further towards Western Europe is impossible.
“The migrants usually stay in the parts of the country where Muslims live and it represents a humanitarian and security challenge for local communities and BiH institutions,” Izetbegović warned.
Despite the challenges, he added, BiH has continued to meet its obligations on the European path, and significant progress has been made in meeting 14 key priorities from the European Commission's Opinion on BiH's application for EU membership, the Press Service of the BiH PA said.
(FENA) A. B.
