prijava
SARAJEVO, February 13 (FENA) - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina today hosted the third meeting of the Steering Committee of the joint program of the European Union and the Council of Europe "Horizontal Facility" for the Western Balkans and Turkey, in order to present the achievements of all projects implemented within this program, with a special focus on anti-discrimination, prison system reform, education and the protection of national minorities.
Director-General of the Council of Europe's Program Directorate, Verena Taylor, pointed out that the "Horizontal Facility" is there to help a country to fulfill the commitments it has undertaken during its accession to the Council of Europe and finalize their implementation in connection with the EU accession.
She emphasized that the EU is one of the most important partners for these countries, since they share the same values with respect to human rights, the rule of law and democracy.
“What we are trying to do with our partners is to help countries to progress in these areas. Based on the recommendations, we help the country to make progress in those segments where it is really necessary,” she explained.
Director Taylor said that when an individual country joins the Council of Europe, the country assumes obligations in terms of certain standards relating to human rights or the rule of law.
"These are very concrete aspects, such as fight against economic crime, cooperation with the police, education, fight against discrimination and the like," she said.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH for Multilateral Relations Almir Šahović pointed out that the Council of Europe’s instrument is in line with one of the most important EU Commission documents from February 2018, entitled "EU Enlargement Strategy", outlining the main recommendations for the countries of Western Balkans, as candidates or potential candidates.
He added that this instrument helps BiH meet certain criteria in order to obtain a positive opinion on the candidate status by the end of 2019, after the submission of the responses to the Questionnaire of the European Commission.
Head of Justice, Home Affairs and Public Administration Reform Unit at the EU Delegation to BiH, Nikolas Bizel, said today that they will discuss the concrete results that have been achieved within the project.
He added that the project really helps BiH to make progress in key aspects such as the rule of law.
"This is not something that is done only to meet the recommendations of the Council of Europe or to approach to the EU, but something that is about the wellbeing of the citizens of this country," he said.
He emphasized that they will discuss concrete activities such as the fight against segregation, improvement of the position and protection of national minorities, human rights and improvement of the capacities of certain institutions, such as the Ombudsman Institution.
Bizel concluded that nothing can be achieved without sufficient funds. Therefore, EUR 2.7 million was invested in BiH through this project.
The meeting was attended by representatives of institutions directly involved in the implementation of the program, such as state and entity ministries of justice, the Human Rights Ombudsman Institution, Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of BiH, as well as the BiH Ministry of Civil Affairs.
(FENA) S. R.
