Parliament speakers urge "closer cooperation"

BELGRADE Serbian Parliament Speaker Nebojsa Stefanovic received his Serb Republic (RS) counterpart Igor Radojicic in Belgrade on Monday. Stefanovic meet with the president of the Banja Luka-based assembly of the Serb entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina in his office at the parliament building in Belgrade. Parliament speakers urge "closer cooperation" The two officials told reporters after the meeting that they agreed that there was a strategic interest in bilateral cooperation, given that “all institutions and citizens have a natural inclination towards cooperation”, and that it is up to all to strengthen that cooperation. "In 2008, the two parliaments signed the protocol on cooperation, but the need arose for introducing yet another dimension to that cooperation, primarily in the domain of economy," Stefanovic said. Thus, the two economies will strengthen, have a possibility of a joint presentation to other markets, he stressed. “The Republic of Serbia and its parliament have interest in strengthening cooperation with RS. Our wish is to have more frequent meetings between parliament's senior officials, as well as representatives of parliamentary committees and other bodies,” Stefanovic said. Congratulating him on the election, Radojicic invited Stefanovic to pay a visit to Banja Luka this fall. He underlined that would be a good opportunity for making cooperation in many domains, economy in particular, more concrete, as businessmen and representative of the executive branch would be also present on that occasion. That would bring the two economies even closer, he said. Radojicic underlined that Serbia is the most significant trading partner of RS, adding that with Stefanovic, he also discussed the improvement in cooperation in the domain of trade, economy and energy. The RS can perform the tasks related to EU integration much faster and easier than the other entity and some common institutions in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Igor Radojicic also said on Monday, in reference to Bosnia's second entity, the Muslim-Croat Federation (FBosnia). The RS parliament is already considering to what extent the laws are harmonized with the European legal framework, and the RS government already has protocols and procedures, and the estimates as to the degree of harmonization with the European laws, whereas the other entity (the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina) does not have that, Radojicic noted. "Bosnia-Herzegovina is likely to face an asymmetrical process and asymmetrical speed, as RS can progress on the EU path quite quickly, and the other entity very slowly,” Radojicic said. Addressing the journalists at the Palace of Serbia, Radojicic said that one of the EU conditions is that the agreement on EU issues be reached within Bosnia. Underlining that Bosnia is a rather complex state union, he noted that within it, there are various levels of power which should implement the European standards. “The RS insists on a decentralized approach to the EU integration, which means that we perform all duties that come under the jurisdiction of the parliament and executive bodies, i.e. our parliament is already passing the laws related to the EU integration within the jurisdiction stipulated by the Constitution,” Radojicic said. Stefanovic and Radojicic are seen in Belgrade on Monday (Tanjug) Tanjug

Parliament speakers urge "closer cooperation"

The two officials told reporters after the meeting that they agreed that there was a strategic interest in bilateral cooperation, given that “all institutions and citizens have a natural inclination towards cooperation”, and that it is up to all to strengthen that cooperation.

"In 2008, the two parliaments signed the protocol on cooperation, but the need arose for introducing yet another dimension to that cooperation, primarily in the domain of economy," Stefanović said.

Thus, the two economies will strengthen, have a possibility of a joint presentation to other markets, he stressed.

“The Republic of Serbia and its parliament have interest in strengthening cooperation with RS. Our wish is to have more frequent meetings between parliament's senior officials, as well as representatives of parliamentary committees and other bodies,” Stefanović said.

Congratulating him on the election, Radojičić invited Stefanović to pay a visit to Banja Luka this fall.

He underlined that would be a good opportunity for making cooperation in many domains, economy in particular, more concrete, as businessmen and representative of the executive branch would be also present on that occasion.

That would bring the two economies even closer, he said.

Radojičić underlined that Serbia is the most significant trading partner of RS, adding that with Stefanović, he also discussed the improvement in cooperation in the domain of trade, economy and energy.

The RS can perform the tasks related to EU integration much faster and easier than the other entity and some common institutions in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Igor Radojičić also said on Monday, in reference to Bosnia's second entity, the Muslim-Croat Federation (FBosnia).

The RS parliament is already considering to what extent the laws are harmonized with the European legal framework, and the RS government already has protocols and procedures, and the estimates as to the degree of harmonization with the European laws, whereas the other entity (the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina) does not have that, Radojičić noted.

"Bosnia-Herzegovina is likely to face an asymmetrical process and asymmetrical speed, as RS can progress on the EU path quite quickly, and the other entity very slowly,” Radojičić said.

Addressing the journalists at the Palace of Serbia, Radojičić said that one of the EU conditions is that the agreement on EU issues be reached within Bosnia.

Underlining that Bosnia is a rather complex state union, he noted that within it, there are various levels of power which should implement the European standards.

“The RS insists on a decentralized approach to the EU integration, which means that we perform all duties that come under the jurisdiction of the parliament and executive bodies, i.e. our parliament is already passing the laws related to the EU integration within the jurisdiction stipulated by the Constitution,” Radojičić said.