In Bijeljina, Ambassador Wigemark talks to city officials, parliamentarians and entrepreneurs

Head of the Delegation of the EU and EU Special Representative in BiH, Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark visited Bijeljina today. In meeting with the Deputy Mayor, Huso Zečkanović, Ambassador Wigemark discussed European integration related issues, including the EU’s assistance to the local recovery following the 2014 floods.

Ambassador Wigemark addressed the conference organised in the framework of the Twinning Project ‘Enhancing the role of parliaments in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the EU integration context‘. The EU-funded project worth nearly EUR 3,5 million aims to improve the capacity and enable parliaments’ stronger role in the accession process and in the implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. The conference was attended by the parliamentary leadership and EU Integration Committee Chairs of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, FBiH Parliament, RS National Assembly and of the Brčko District Assembly. They discussed the Project’s recommendations aimed to further advance cooperation between the parliaments in BiH, that would ensure coordinated actions needed in EU integration process

Ambassador Wigemark also visited the “Raševići d.o.o”, one of the local SMEs which received financial support under the EU Floods Recovery Programme.

“In the aftermath of floods, the EU has assisted small and medium businesses to mitigate the negative economic effects, retain and generate jobs. They are, in the long run, absolutely crucial for economic recovery of the country”, Ambassador Wigemark said.

Bijeljina was one of the municipalities worst-affected by 2014 floods and one of the main recipients of EU’s flood recovery assistance, with the total investment of nearly 5 million EUR. The EU’s assistance included rehabilitation of housing units, public facilities and communal infrastructure, support to SMEs and commercial agricultural holdings.

Europa.ba