TI Bosnia: Democracy, Human Rights, Functioning of Institutions Deteriorate in Bosnia

Bosnia and Herzegovina (Photo: PrintScreen YouTube)

Out of the 14 priorities from the Opinion of the European Commission about Bosnia’s application for EU membership, only one has been fully implemented – the one on the forming of the Parliamentary Committee for stabilization and association, which is not convening.

This was stated on July 26 in the analysis by Transparency International (TI) Bosnia and Herzegovina, and pointed out that five priorities had been implemented partially, and that there was an overall deterioration regarding many issues that pertain to democracy, human rights and functioning of institutions.

The report with an analysis of the implementation of reforms in Bosnia has shown that, since the adoption of the Opinion in 2019, Bosnia had regressed in many segments, and that the most alarming was the regression in the field of basic rights, especially those pertaining to the creation of a favorable environment for the protection of journalists and financing of radio and TV services.

“Bosnia has not just regressed in particular segments that are relevant for the fulfilling of priorities on the path to EU Membership, but its institutions at all levels have started the processes of withholding the basic human rights, the consequences of which will be felt by the entire population. That was illustrated the most clearly by the amendments to the Criminal code of Republika Srpska (RS), adopted in an atmosphere of lynching, verbal and physical attacks on journalists and in problematic procedures, that once gain recognize libel as a crime in this entity of Bosnia,” it was stated in the analysis of TI Bosnia.