‘Alternative report on BiH's progress on EU path in 2022’ publication presented today

The Initiative for Monitoring the European Integration of BiH presented the publication today ‘Potemkin's Candidacy: Alternative Report on BiH's Progress on the Path to Membership in the European Union for 2022 – Political Criteria’.

The publication is the result of the work of civil society organizations within the Initiative for Monitoring the European Integration of BiH and collaborators outside this coalition.

After the presentation of the publication, a panel discussion was held “On the paradox of progress, i.e. the deterioration of human rights after candidate status”.

The representative of the Initiative for Monitoring the European Integration of BiH, Edo Kanlić, said “that the report from the perspective of civil society shows how they see the events of the last year, the most important reform processes and political events concerning the European path of BiH”.

He states that he is glad that the European Commission is bringing 14 priorities back into focus, because in the past period that part was overlooked, and he believes that this is important because it is about reform processes that are important to citizens, not the Brussels administration.

He believes that due to the latest events, human rights are mostly violated in Republika Srpska.

“The right to freedom of assembly and the right to freedom of expression is something that is most under attack, that's why instead of adopting some reform laws, we decided to adopt repressive ones. The threat of repressive laws is used as a political tool. We hope that the authorities will recognize and adopt the criticism made not only by representatives of civil society but also by almost all international organizations. We must remind ourselves that basic human rights are part of our Constitution through all the conventions ratified by Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Kanlić.

The alternative report on BiH's progress on the path to membership in the European Union for 2022 – political criteria, presented by the Initiative for Monitoring the European Integration of BiH, offers an overview and perspective of civil society organizations on the dynamics and results of the most significant political and reform processes in the past year and fulfillment of obligations from political criteria.

The report contains an overview of the functioning of democratic institutions and the reform of public administration, the rule of law, and basic rights, as well as appendices in chapters 19, 27, and 28.

(FENA)