The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers on Friday called on Bosnia and Herzegovina to implement the judgments by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and welcomed the agreement reached by leading Bosniak and Croat parties to amend the constitution and election law.

The Committee of Ministers reiterated its concern that the authorities and political leaders of Bosnia and Herzegovina have not yet reached a consensus on the content of the required amendments to be incorporated into the constitution.

The existing discriminatory election system constitutes a breach of the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights and a breach of the obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a member of the Council of Europe, the Committee said according to Bosnian media.

Among the judgments to be implemented is the one in the case of Sejdic and Finci who complained that members of ethnic minorities cannot run and be elected to the highest positions in the country.

The Committee welcomed the agreement reached by the leader of the Croat HDZ BiH party, Dragan Covic, and the leader of the predominantly Bosniak SDA party, Bakir Izetbegovic, in mid-June to start talks on the implementation of the court judgments and on constitutional and legislative amendments within six months to ensure their adoption by parliament before the end of 2021.

They also agreed on the implementation of the Constitutional Court judgment in the Bozo Ljubic case which calls for ensuring legitimate political representation of the constituent peoples to end the practice of more numerous Bosniaks outvoting Croats.