Thanks to its membership in the Council of Europe, Bosnia and Herzegovina looks better today than it did 22 years ago, concluded the conference marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Council of Europe and the 22nd anniversary of BiH's membership in that organization that was held in Sarajevo on Friday.

The host of the conference at the BiH Parliament building was Sasa Magazinovic, the Chair of the BiH Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), and the conference sponsors were BiH Presidency Chair Denis Becirovic and the Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic.

The conference, whose central panel was titled “Contribution of Bosnia and Herzegovina's membership in the Council of Europe in strengthening the democratic institutions of BiH”, was an opportunity to stress the importance of the Council of Europe in strengthening and promoting democratic values, human rights and the rule of law.

“Twenty-two years ago, this house opened its doors to Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was a very significant moment for the country in transition, and even today our membership is important in many aspects. At that time, people didnt know what our membership in the Council of Europe meant and today we all already know that it gave us access to the European Court of Human Rights, where numerous BiH citizens proved their discrimination and where the decisions of this Court will certainly define the future of BiH,” Magazinovic said.

He added that the Council of Europe treats important topics such as the fight against hate speech, freedom of the press, development of culture and cinematography, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, improvement of the position of local authorities, and recently the topic of artificial intelligence has been represented.

BiH Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Josip Brkic said that BiH's membership in the Council of Europe 22 years ago represented the first integration step of BiH into the group of countries that inherit the values of freedom, respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law, as fundamental values that need to be deeply rooted in the area of Southeast Europe.

“Today, thanks to its membership in the Council of Europe, BiH looks better than it did 22 years ago. The European Convention on Human Rights is not above the Constitution, but it is an integral part of the Constitution of BiH and our obligation is to implement that convention and all its protocols that we have signed in the manner of a country that has been in the Council of Europe in its rights and obligations for the past 22 years,” said Brkic.

In addition to representatives and delegates of the Houses of the BiH Parliament, the conference was attended by a large number of guests, primarily ambassadors and representatives of embassies and representatives of international community organizations operating in BiH, the Council of Ministers, and representatives of government and civil society organizations.