At the National Assembly House the Bosnia and Herzegovina delegation met with the members of the Committee on Defense and Security, Constitutional Issues Committee, Legislative Committee, Foreign Affairs Committee and European Integrations Committee.

Joint Committee Chair Dusanka Majkic and her deputies Bojana Kristo and Sefik Dzaferovic first met with the representatives of the Committee on Defense and Security. Greeting the guests, Committee Chairman Dusan Bajatovic emphasised the importance of the realised regional cooperation in the sphere of security stressing that Serbia has established the legal framework in the sphere thus rounding up its defense strategy. He declared parliamentary cooperation very important when facing political challenges which cannot be resolved by armed conflict these days.

Joint Committee Chair Dusanka Majkic said that this was their first visit and the beginning of the two countries’ future cooperation in the sphere of defense and security which is of particular importance for the strengthening of overall security in the region. She briefed the members of the Committee on Defense and Security on the scope of the Joint Committee which is among the most important parliamentary bodies and has a wide sphere of competences.

In the meeting the two delegations noted that stability in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina contributes to the stability of the region as a whole and that without regional cooperation the states of Southeastern Europe can have no European future. They agreed that in the upcoming period parliamentarians should intensify their cooperation further and raise the relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia to a higher level.

The members of the two delegations also discussed the open issues relating to the Dayton Agreement which Serbia is one of the signers of, stressing that full compliance with the agreement is the guarantee of stability in the region.

The Serbian delegation members briefed their BIH Parliamentary Assembly colleagues on the difficult situation the Serbian community and Republic of Serbia are facing in Kosovo-Metohija.

In addition to the Committee Chairman, Committee members Konstantin Samofalov, Bajram Omeragic, Meho Omerovic, Aleksandar Cotric, Edip Serifov and Natasa Jovanovic took part in the meeting, and the first part of the meeting was also attended by the MPs of the Serbian Radical Party parliamentary group.

In the continuation of the visit, the BiH delegation met with the members of the Constitutional Issues Committee and Legislative Committee. Both sides expressed their wish to deepen the cooperation between the two countries’ parliaments, as well as with the parliaments in the region, and they also spoke of the competencies and scope of the BiH PA Joint Committee and National Assembly committees.

The meeting was attended by Committee members, MPs Nada Kolundzija, Vlatko Ratkovic, Bajram Omeragic and Srdjan Mikovic.

The delegation of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Parliamentary Assembly’s Joint Committee for Defense and Security also met with a delegation of the European Integrations and Foreign Affairs Committees.

Joint Committee Chair Dusanka Majkic was interested in improving the two countries’ bilateral relations and parliamentary cooperation in particular. She stressed that the BiH Federation and Serbia share the same goal - approaching the European Union and that the countries of the region should cooperate on the road to it and share experiences. The two countries’ cooperation in the sphere of defense and security is a good example of it.

Greeting the guests, European Integrations Committee Chairman Laszlo Varga briefed them on Serbia’s progress in meeting the requisites set out in the so-called European agenda. National Assembly Deputy Speaker Gordana Comic emphasised the importance of regional cooperation and announced a meeting of European integration committees of the countries in the region. The Serbian delegation members informed the guests that in the current convocation the Parliament underwent reform which increased its efficiency.

The officials pointed out the need to strengthen the role of the parliament, particularly its oversight of the executive government. They also opined that parliamentarians can contribute to a faster resolution of the open issues between the two countries which would require more frequent meetings.