Paulo Rangel, from Portugal, was chosen to serve as the European Parliament’s Special Rapporteur for Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday, while Vladimir Bilcik, from Slovakia, is the new EP Rapporteur for Serbia, European Western Balkans reported.

The European People’s Party (EPP) still holds the rapporteur positions for the two countries.

Rangel is taking over the position from Cristian Dan Preda, while Bilcik is taking over the position from David McAllister.

The ruling party in Serbia, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), is an EPP associate member. Three parties in Bosnia hold observer membership status in the EPP – the main Bosniak party, the Party for Democratic Action (SDA), the main Croat party, the Croat Democratic Union (HDZ BiH) and a Serb opposition party, the Party for Democratic Progress (PDP).

Rangel is the Vice-President of the EPP and an experienced EP member who won his third mandate in 2019 as the leading candidate of the liberal-conservative Social Democratic Party of Portugal.