“Mostar, whose popoulation of more than 100 000 citizens is deprived of the right to choose their representatives at the local level, is not administered according to the fundamental principles of local democracy", stressed Congress member Carla DEJONGHE (Belgium, ILDG) at the meeting of the Western Balkans Working Group of the EU Committee of the Regions, held in Brussels on 3 May. Addressing the Working Group on the issue of local democracy in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), she recalled the particular situation of the city, where no local elections have been held for 10 years.
Ms DEJONGHE reminded that the Congress created a Reflection Group on the specific issue of local democracy in Mostar. "This Group has one major objective : acting in favour of a legal and political solution for Mostar which would integrate all the local and European actors".
She explained next steps which include a visit of the Congress Reflection Group at the end of June, a possible mission to observe the regional elections in the country scheduled for October 2018 and a visit in BiH in the framework of the next monitoring of the Charter of Local Self-Government. "All these activities offer an opportunity to further examine and strengthen the situation of local and regional democracy in the country", the Congress speaker concluded.
In light of the context of EU enlargement process, the Working Group of the EU Committee of the Regions also discussed the question of the relations between the EU and Kosovo, as well as the digital transformation of the Western Balkans area.
