OHRPR-09112021-HR-NGOs
11/09/2021 OHR

High Representative: Civil society is a powerful transformative force

High Representative Christian Schmidt met today with representatives of the Council of the Congress of Bosniak Intellectuals (VKBI), Croat National Council (HNV), Forum of BiH Parliamentarians, Serb Civic Council – Movement for Equality (SGV-PR), and Society for Threatened Peoples.

“Today’s meeting with representatives of BiH’s civil society highlights the invaluable contribution this critical democratic factor in society makes in advancing pluralism and diversity of ideas for addressing the dramatic challenges Bosnia and Herzegovina is facing,” said the High Representative at the meeting.

The High Representative underlined there can be no other end goal but a sovereign, territorially intact and irreversibly stable BiH that is fully capable of exercising its constitutional and legal responsibilities for the benefit of all its peoples and citizens. All segments of the BiH society – institutions, political parties, NGOs, citizens  – must contribute to this goal, he noted.

High Representative Schmidt expressed his gratitude for today’s opportunity to explore opportunities for dialogue with BiH’s civil society, and to identify avenues of cooperation to address the challenges necessary to move the country forward. The collocutors agreed to meet again to discuss, among others, the principles for constitutional changes agreed by VKBI, HNV, Forum of BiH Parliamentarians, SGV-PR, and Society for Threatened Peoples.

OHRPR-09112021-HR-NGOs OHRPR-09112021-HR-NGOs2