The EU takes note of yesterday’s deliberations of the BiH Constitutional Court (CC), and once again calls upon the BiH Parliamentary Assembly and all political parties to urgently amend the relevant Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) provisions in accordance with international standards and as required by the BiH Constitutional Court. This will be essential for the rule of law institutions’ ability to preserve the country’s security, to conduct sensitive investigations and to offer witness immunity as well as cooperating with international law enforcement agencies such as Interpol and Europol.

At the same time, the EU expresses its serious concern about the failure of the political parties, as well as the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Justice, to uphold their commitments to fight corruption, organised crime and other forms of serious crime, in the context of the preparation of the Commission Opinion on BiH’s application for EU membership.

This is a year that represents a window of opportunity for Bosnia and Herzegovina to strengthen its links with the EU and with the region, and to move closer to EU standards, not further away.