The Council of Europe's (CoE) Committee of Ministers just adopted a decision allowing Bosnia's delegation to take part in the work of the CoE's Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) this year, Bosnia's Foreign Affairs Minister tweeted on Friday.
“It's Bosnian Parliamentary Assembly leadership's move which needs to compose Bosnia's delegation to the PACE as soon as possible,” Crnadak tweeted.
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He thanked the Finnish counterpart Timo Soini and the CoE Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland for their support.
During the Friday session of CoE's Committee of Ministers, Crnadak noted the Council's importance and the role and achievements this organisation has had over the past 70 years in building trust and understanding in Europe.
“We're still facing countless problems and crises, but our response must always be the same – the rule of law, democracy, human rights and the respect for diversity,” Crnadak said.
He called on the PACE to adopt the decision allowing the Bosnian delegation to take part in the decision-making process of this institution after it was suspended in April.
Bosnia was suspended because it failed to appoint its delegation in the COE, six months after the general election.
Back then, the PACE co-rapporteur for Bosnia, Tiny Kox, told N1 he regrets the fact that Bosnia failed to present its new PACE delegation on time, which is Bosnia's statutory obligation – as member states must be represented in both CoE bodies: the Committee of Ministers and the Assembly.
“I again urge the Bosnia Parliament to fulfil its obligation and to present a new delegation as soon as possible, with which delegation I will be most happy to co-operate. Bosnia's active participation in the work of the organisation, and in its Assembly, is important for both Bosnia and the other member States, as the Assembly is the main European platform for inter-parliamentary dialogue and the political engine of the Council of Europe,” he said.
