The European Union Office issues the following statement in agreement with the EU Heads of Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina:

“We warmly welcome today’s adoption of the amendments to the BiH Election Law, finally enabling the holding of Mostar municipal elections. Holding these elections is included among the 14 key priorities of the Commission’s Opinion on the EU membership application of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The adoption of these amendments demonstrates that political leaders and BiH institutions are able to take ownership, compromise and resolve difficult issues. This spirit should guide future reform efforts on electoral reform.

As regards further electoral reform, EU Heads of Mission recall the need to fully address Opinion key priorities for Bosnia and Herzegovina to progress on its EU accession path. We also remind that no legislative or political steps should be taken which would make the implementation of ECtHR Sejdić-Finci case law as well as related Constitutional Court rulings more challenging. Bosnia and Herzegovina also needs to implement OSCE/ODIHR recommendations in order to improve the democratic quality of its electoral processes.

Finally, we note that postponing the adoption of the 2020 State budget by the BiH Parliamentary Assembly might have implications on the holding of elections as announced. Therefore we call upon the authorities to immediately secure the necessary funds for the holding of the 2020 local elections throughout the country.”