A  meeting on legal issues related to the implementation of the European Court of Human Rights judgement in ‘Sejdic and Finci’ issue is to be held today in Sarajevo. This meeting of the European Commission representatives and legal experts from 7 main BiH political parties is part of a series of expert-level meetings that the European Commission continues to help facilitate, stemming from the third meeting of the High Level Dialogue on the Accession Process on 1 and 10 October, 2013, in Brussels.

The aim of today’s meeting is to help clarify certain technical issues and try to bring the BiH stakeholders positions closer in order to help BiH meet its obligations in international law, eliminating discrimination from elections to the BiH Presidency and BiH House of Peoples.

Commenting on the issue Director in DG Enlargement Mr. Jean-Eric Paquet said: “I hope to see a constructive technical discussion today that would help our BiH counterparts find an agreement so that Bosnia and Herzegovina can keep pace with its neighbours in EU integration. Our efforts on the issue are still ongoing and we sincerely hope a solution to be agreed very soon. Much is at stake for Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

The European Commission encourages all parties in their efforts, particularly as this is the remaining condition for BiH to move forward in the EU integration process. The European Commission remains committed to continue facilitating the efforts towards an agreement. The responsibility for an agreement, its enactment and implementation remains with the leaders and the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

No further press announcements on the meeting are planned.