Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Holds Its 28th Session

COMMITTEE FOR COOPERATION WITH NATO 

 

The Council of Ministers of BIH adopted, in the second round of voting and with nine to one, a Decision to set-up a committee for cooperation with NATO, in addition to some amendments adopted at the session to be incorporated into the decision by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and legislative Office of the Council of Ministers of BIH., as well as concerning of obligations taken form the  Bosnia and Herzegovina Reform Programme document.

The Committee will, among other things, set priorities in realisation of obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, stemming from BIH participation in NATO Partnership For Peace Programme.

A principle of vote by the Committee members follows the voting principle in the Council of Ministers, which is a new element in the Decision, where consensus enables majority-taking decision under condition for at least two Committee members from each constitutive people votes for a decision, failing this, the second round of voting will be resorted to.

The Committee chairman will be Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Josip Brkić, and his deputies will be Deputy Minister of Defence for Resources Management Mirko Okolić and the Ministry Secretary Muhamed Smajić.

 

REALISATION OF BIH REFORM PROGRAMME

 

The Council of Ministers of BIH adopted unanimously a document “Realisation of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2019-2020 Reform Programme”, consisting of a tabular review of activities implemented by responsible institutions in BIH concerning political and economic issues, defence and security issues, and legal and resources-related issues.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible to provide the comprehensive document to the BIH Presidency and to NATO Brussels HQ.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will, in cooperation with the BIH Ministry of Defence, start a procedure for drafting of the 2020-2021 Reform Programme in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

STRATEGY FOR SMALL AND LIGHT ARMS CONTROL IN BIH

 

The Council of Ministers of BIH adopted a Strategy for control of small and light arms (SALW) in BIH for 2021-2024 time period with an accompanying action plan, in order to increase further the effectiveness of all relevant actors and further improve security in BIH and the region.

The Strategy and its action plan were prepared by the Coordination Board for small and light arms control, in cooperation with all-level responsible bodies and international partners included into implementation of strategic aims, based on standards of United Nations, European Union and other international standards and best practices.

Four strategic aims were set to improve and harmonise legal framework in SALW-related law implementation, decrease misuse and illegal possession and trade with fire arms and ammunition, in addition to managing the SALW in possession of the Armed Forces of BIH, and continued cooperation with international and relevant regional and civil society organisations.

The implementation of these aims though an action plan should result in further improvement of control of both internal and external arms trade, decrease of incidents caused by arms and arms possessed by citizens, increased citizens’ confidence in BIH at all authority levels, as well as a decrease of surpluses of small and light arms possessed by the Ministry of Defence and BIH Armed Forces.  A special attention was paid to the strengthening of overall administrative and investigative capacities of all responsible bodies in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the sake of prevention of illegal possession and smuggling with small and light arms.

 

STRONGER COOPERATION IN HGIH EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

 

The session defined a proposal Platform for negotiating a Cooperation Agreement in High Education and Science between the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Government of the Republic of Belarus.

The aim is to establish cooperation in high education, in order to organise an academic and scientific exchange between high education institutions of both countries.

This way, the two states support mobility in education and internship of students and academic staff in high education institutions, depending on financial possibilities.

The Proposal Platform will be provided to the BIH Presidency for further procedure, and the BIH signatory will be the Minister of Civil Affairs.

 

ACTIVITIES STARTED FOR ESTABLISHING CONTACT POINT/S FOR ARMS

 

The Council of Ministers took the Ministry of Security-proposed Decision to set-up a work group for establishing contact point/s for fire arms in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to the end of promotion of the state of affairs in the area and boosting the regional and cooperation with the European Union.

This way, BIH joins the countries of the region in implementation of Road Map for finding a sustainable solution in suppression of illegal possession, misuse and trade with small and light fire arms and belonging ammunition in the Western Balkans, as set at the London Summit within the Berlin Process.

The work group is comprised of representatives of the relevant State, Entity and Brčko District of BIH institutions, and Cantonal Ministries of Interior.

The work group should define, by June 30, 2021, the HQ and role of the contact point for fire arms, its management structure, the existing databases on fire arms in BIH, and kinds of information to be exchanged with analysis of technical capacities, and to present it to the Council of Ministers of BIH by July 31, 2021.

 

SUPPLEMENTS TO MLFT RISK ASSESSMENT IN BIH

 

The session took a decision to form a work group for drafting a supplement to 2021-2023 MLFT Risk Assessment in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an accompanying action plan to 2023, initially drafted by the Ministry of Security, pursuant to a conclusion of an earlier session of the Council of Ministers of BIH.

The work group, as a temporary cross-sectoral body of the Council of Ministers of BIH, should draw supplements to 2021-2023 BIH Money Laundry and Financing Terrorism Risk Assessment, by July 1, 2021.

The work group members will be representatives of the Council of Ministers of BIH, Republika Srpska, Federation of BIH, and Brčko District of BIH, together with representative of other competent institutions, including BIH MONEYVAL delegation. The work group will coordinate and direct work of relevant sub-groups, formed according to specific work areas.

 

COOPERATION WITH EUROPOL

The Council of Ministers took unanimously, in the second round of voting, a Decision to provide accommodation offices to the Ministry of Security for the needs of a joint contact point for cooperation with EUROPOL.

The General Affairs Service of BIH Institutions proposed premises on the ground floor of the Building of Friendship between Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will enable setting the contact-point and improved cooperation of BIH and EUROPOL.

 

BIH IN “CREATIVE EUROPE” PROGRAMME

 

The Council of Ministers of BIH adopted a piece of information by the Ministry of Civil Affairs on participation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the European Union “Creative Europe” Programme, with a proposal activities for improve successfulness.

Namely, BIH applicants drew EUR 584,002 from the European Union under the Creative Europe Programme, specifically EUR 160,669 from Culture sub-programme and EUR 423,333 from Media sub-programme.

Bosnia and Herzegovina pays EUR 205,000 an annual membership fee in the Creative Europe Programme, and in 2019 domestic contribution was EUR 71000, IPA funds were EUR 133,250 or 65% of total fee.

In the time period from 2014 to 2019, BIH had 116 successful applications, namely by 55 organisations and institutions from the Federation of BIH, and 51 application came from Republika Srpska, with 10 of them joint ones, while the Brčko District had no applicants. However, the funds withdrawn were not proportionate to the number of applicants.

The Coordination Desk for the “Creative Europe” Programme is supported by the Ministry of Civil Affairs with KM 50,000 annually, though supporting cultural and creative sectors to take part in the Programme.

 

CONFIRMATION TO SUPPORT TO SMART SOCIALISATION IN BIH

 

The Council of Ministers of BIH tasked the Director of the Directorate for Economic Planning to sign a Letter of Intent for conclusion of a Memorandum of Understanding with the European Commission Joint Research Centre and send it to the further procedure.

Earlier, the Council of Ministers declared tis form commitment to start a process of smart socialisation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a decision was taken last November to appoint work group for drafting a Smart Socialisation Strategy in BIH (S3).

The conclusion of the Memorandum of Understanding with the EC Joint Research Centre creates conditions for realisation of a technical assistance offered to counties in the process of development of Smart Socialisation Strategy.

 

APPOINTMENETS

 

The Council of Ministers of BIH appointed Enes Hašić for Manager of the Agency for Development of High Education and Quality Insurance of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Irena Šiško and Stevo Škrbić, as the best ranked candidates were appointed Deputy Managers.

The session appointed Milica Marković for Manager of the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency, as the best ranking candidate in the relevant job vacancy procedure implemented.

The Council of Ministers of BIH appointed Čedomir Šušnjar for General Manager of the Directorate for Civil Aviation of BIH, and Marin Raspudić and Muharem Šabić for Deputy General-Managers, as the best ranked candidates in the implemented job vacancy procedure.

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