High Representative Christian Schmidt welcomes decision of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (HNC) Assembly to amend its Constitution recognizing the equality of the Serb people, the official status of Serb language and Cyrillic script in this canton, as well as recognizing the Bosnian language. The HNC Assembly finally took positive steps towards implementing the 2018 Judgement of the Federation of BiH Constitutional Court.
“I stand for equality of all regardless of their ethnic, religious, or any other background. Our common goal must be to keep the young, committed, and hardworking people of Bosnia and Herzegovina in this country. This goal can be achieved by raising trust in public institutions, combined with a transparent economic, legal, and political system which is inclusive for all and which fully respects the Rule of Law.
Therefore, the Constitution of HNC is amended to recognize that the Serb people in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton enjoy equal status to the other two constituent peoples. In this regard, the HNC authorities should continue with these positive steps and address the remaining aspects of the Constitutional Court judgement which have not yet been incorporated.
Additionally, the Posavina Canton Assembly should adopt similar pending amendments, while West Herzegovina Canton, which partially harmonized its constitution, should complete the task.”