EP official in Belgrade over Bosniak Council

European Parliament (EP) Special Envoy for the Balkans Jelko Kacin has announced that he will visit Belgrade on October 3. He also said Serbia has to resolve the issue of the forming of the Bosniak national council by that date. EP official in Belgrade over Bosniak Council Kacin, a Slovenian politician, said in a live broadcast by Bosnia's TV1 channel that Serbia has to be a legal state which will treat its citizens equally. Kacin confirmed that he had sent a letter to the Serbian authorities in which he said that it is “unacceptable to ask only the Bosniaks to form their national council with a two-third majority, while all other national councils of other ethnic minorities were formed with a simple majority.” Kacin claimed that the letter was, allegedly, the reason for calling a meeting of representatives of three election lists in Belgrade last Friday. The meeting, held on the invitation of Minister for Human and Minority Rights Svetozar Ciplic and with the mediation of Head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Serbia Ambassador Dimitrios Kypreos, ended without reaching an agreement but with a wish to continue the talks on forming the Bosniak national council. Three lists took part in the June elections for the Bosniak national council. The Bosniak Cultural Community won 17 mandates, the Bosniak List 13 and the Bosniak Revival five. The Bosniak List and Bosniak Revival boycotted the constitutive session, while the Bosniak Cultural Community, led by Mufti Muamer Zukorlic, formed the council with the help of two deputies from the Bosniak Revival list, which, however, is not recognized by the Serbian Ministry for Human and Minority Rights. Jelko Kacin (Tanjug, file)

EP official in Belgrade over Bosniak Council

Kacin, a Slovenian politician, said in a live broadcast by Bosnia's TV1 channel that Serbia has to be a legal state which will treat its citizens equally.

Kacin confirmed that he had sent a letter to the Serbian authorities in which he said that it is “unacceptable to ask only the Bosniaks to form their national council with a two-third majority, while all other national councils of other ethnic minorities were formed with a simple majority.”

Kacin claimed that the letter was, allegedly, the reason for calling a meeting of representatives of three election lists in Belgrade last Friday.

The meeting, held on the invitation of Minister for Human and Minority Rights Svetozar Čiplić and with the mediation of Head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Serbia Ambassador Dimitrios Kypreos, ended without reaching an agreement but with a wish to continue the talks on forming the Bosniak national council.

Three lists took part in the June elections for the Bosniak national council. The Bosniak Cultural Community won 17 mandates, the Bosniak List 13 and the Bosniak Revival five.

The Bosniak List and Bosniak Revival boycotted the constitutive session, while the Bosniak Cultural Community, led by Mufti Muamer Zukorlic, formed the council with the help of two deputies from the Bosniak Revival list, which, however, is not recognized by the Serbian Ministry for Human and Minority Rights.