He stressed that the economic situation in the Republic of Srpska is somewhat better, but is still not satisfactory. Radojicic was pleased that an agreement was reached on the establishment of the leadership of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, expressing expectation that all levels of government would soon be formed.

In a cordial meeting the officials noted that the cooperation between the NARS and Republic of Srpska NA, based on the previously signed Memorandum of Cooperation, is very good, but that there is still room for improvement. This primarily refers to cooperation between appropriate committees as well as friendship groups. The officials agreed that each should do all in his/her power to further develop said cooperation.

At the meeting, the NARS Speaker informed her counterpart that she was pleased to hear about the formation of the assembly bodies of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Speaker was again invited to visit Sarajevo which she will be happy to do at a time convenient for both sides.

Both noted that a strict implementation of the Dayton Agreement is an imperative and that the amendments to the document can be made only in agreement with all three nations i.e. the two entities.

NARS Speaker Slavica Djukic Dejanovic addressed the deputies of the Republic of Srpska NA. She emphasised, among other things: “We are pleased to note that you manage, although it is not easy, to tackle and prevail over the numerous difficulties you face. These difficulties are not only economic, but political as well as and go deep into security aspects.”

“Your determination to persevere in the full implementation of the Dayton Agreement and oppose the amendments imposed on you which are not the result of agreement between the three nations and two entities making up Bosnia and Herzegovina, is particularly impressive. Serbia, as a signer and guarantor of the Dayton Agreement believes that a strict implementation of the agreement is a necessity. All potential amendments to the agreement must be endorsed by all three nations i.e. both entities” stressed Djukic Dejanovic.

“I wish to restate that NARS considers cooperation with your Assembly very important. The cooperation has so far been good but I believe that there is still room for improvement. This primarily refers to cooperation between appropriate committees as well as friendship groups”, stressed the NARS Speaker.

“Serbia remains consistently committed to EU membership and all of its institutions work toward meeting the appropriate membership criteria and are preparing to commence negotiations and we expect to gain candidacy status by the end of the year. The process of harmonisation with European legislation is extensive and NARS spares no effort to make sure that we do not slow down the tempo of legislative harmonisation, but at the same time we are making sure to implement reasonable control i.e. oversight over the bills. When coming up with mechanisms to speed up the process of harmonising national legislation with the European Union acquis communautaire, we are particularly mindful to allow for the opportunity to conduct serious debates on such bills and other act proposals at the same time in which we enjoy the support of the civil sector, expert groups and missions of international organisations”, said Slavica Djukic Dejanovic.

“The state institutions of the Republic of Serbia, the National Assembly among them, prepared the answers to the questions in the European Commission’s Questionnaire in record time based on which the European Commission will draft an opinion on Serbia’s readiness to gain candidacy status and begin negotiations for membership in the European Union. We also received additional questions which we have recently responded to. Making sure to keep the public appraised on the European integration process not only via the media, but also directly, we organise roundtables throughout Serbia to debate the accession process and European values. The European Integrations Committee has organised roundtables throughout Serbia among other things on the usage of pre-accession funds, with the participation of deputies, representatives of the local government, representatives of the civilian society and experts”, said the NARS Speaker.

“We believe that with these and other activities we continue the positive dynamics and successful policy for the realisation of our strategic priority – gaining EU candidacy status. We hare satisfied with the SAA ratification process. So far, as you probably know, the Agreement has been ratified by 18 countries. We are trying to persuade the remaining 9 countries to ratify the SAA as soon as possible, so the National Assembly keeps in contact with the parliamentarians of the countries which have not done so yet” stressed NARS Speaker Slavica Djukic Dejanovic addressing the deputies of the Republic of Srpska NA.