A joint session of the Presidency of the Assembly of the Association of Municipalities and Cities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Presidency of the Association of Municipalities and Cities of the Republic of Srpska was held in Neum on May 31, with the support of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.
The President of the Presidency of the Assembly of the Union of Municipalities and Cities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Hamdo Ejubović, President of the Union of Municipalities and Cities of the Republika Srpska Ljubiša Ćosić, Bernd Vöhringer, President of the House of Local Authorities of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and Rafael Benitez, Director Congress of local and regional authorities.
The session was a kind of networking that aims to strengthen cooperation and promote common values, but also to address common challenges at the local level.
The session was attended by chiefs and mayors - members of the presidency, the leadership of the federation and members of the Congress of local and regional authorities.
They discussed the priorities and challenges faced by local authorities, the joint work of two associations of local authorities and cooperation with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, laying the foundations for strengthening advocacy and joint efforts aimed at strengthening local democracy.
Some of the topics discussed were: the candidate status of BiH for membership in the European Union, the harmonization of domestic legislation with EU regulations, the importance of joint projects of the Union of Municipalities and Cities of the Republika Srpska and the Union of Municipalities and Cities of the Federation of BiH, the role and significance of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe with a special focus on Bosnia and Herzegovina, improvement of cooperation between the Congress and the two alliances, and further planning of the activities of the Congress of local and regional authorities of the Council of Europe.
This event was organized within the project "Innovation of democratic participation at the local level in Bosnia and Herzegovina" which is implemented by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe as part of the Action Plan of the Council of Europe for Bosnia and Herzegovina 2022-2025. year. The project aims to improve the quality of local democracy and create opportunities for citizens to get involved in innovative participatory processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It also promotes new democratic approaches, open government, public ethics, transparent and inclusive creation of local politics in the country.
It was concluded that the associations of municipalities/municipalities and cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the support of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, will address the competent authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina with a request for the full implementation of the European Charter on Local Self-Government, the Law on the Principles of Local Self-Government in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Law on Local Self-Government of the Republic of Srpska.