EU official urges BiH to change law

SARAJEVO - EU Special Representative to Bosina and Herzegovina (BiH) Peter Sorensen on Tuesday urged BiH to adopt the ruling  by European Court of Human Rights in the case of "Sejdic and Finci v. BiH"  at an earlier date.

It is a domestic issue for BiH to find a solution to the issue of "Sejdic and Finci v. BiH" ruling, Sorensen said in Banja Luka, capital city of the Republika Srpska (RS), adding that it would be good to the country as a whole.

He warned if the government cannot come up with a solution before the elections in 2014,  other countries may not recognize results of the elections.

The case of "Sejdic and Finci v. BiH" involved Dervo Sejdic, a prominent Bosnian Roma and vice president of NGO Kali Sara Roma Information Center, and Jacob Finci, a prominent Bosnian Jew and Bosnia's ambassador to Switzerland, who launched an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights on the basis that Bosnia's Constitution violates the European Convention on Human Rights.

Under the Constitution of BiH, the presidency, which consists of three members, can only come from three constituent peoples: one Bosniak and one Croat elected from the Federation of BiH and one Serb elected from RS.

The European Court of Human Rights Court passed a ruling in favor of Sejdic and Finci in September, 2009. EU has made the adoption of the ruling as a precondition for BiH to join the bloc.

During his stay in Banja Luka, Sorensen also held talks with RS officials over mechanisms of coordination between EU and BiH.