A delegation from the Congress is carrying out a preparatory mission to Sarajevo and Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 26 and 27 November 2019, in preparation for the local elections to be held in October 2020. Members of the European Committee of the Regions of the European Union are accompanying the Congress delegation.

On 26 November, in Sarajevo, the delegation holds exchanges with Mr Valentin INZKO, High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr Nebojsa RADMANOVIC, Deputy Speaker in the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, Mr Branko PETRIĆ, President of the Central Election Commission of BiH, and Mr Zlatko KNEŽEVIĆ, President of the BiH Constitutional Court.

On the same day, further to a briefing with Ambassador Drahoslav STEFANEK, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Sarajevo, meetings were held with representatives of the international community, including Mr Joeri MAAS, Chief of Policy and Planning, OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr Khaldoun SINNO, Deputy Head of the European Union Delegation to BiH.

On 27 November, in Mostar, the delegation will hold an exchange with Mrs Irma BARALIJA, Naša stranka, on the 29 October decision of the European Court of Human Rights ruling that Bosnia and Herzegovina was in violation of the European Convention of Human rights as it did not hold municipal elections in Mostar for more than a decade. In response to this situation, the Congress has set up, in 2017, a "Reflection Group on Mostar" to help restore local democracy in this city, which has been in a political deadlock since 2008.

This meeting will be followed by a presentation by Congress Expert Marcin GERWIN, PhD, on “Building Democratic Participation in the City of Mostar” – innovative local initiatives on citizen participation for representatives of political parties and NGOs, and an exchange of views with representatives of political parties and civil society.

Delegation of the Congress:

• Ms Barbara TOCE (Congress, SOC/G/PD, Italy), Vice-President of the Congress
• Mr Robert GRUMAN (Congress, EPP/CCE, Romania), President of the Congress Governance Committee
• Ms Violeta CRUDU (Congress, EPP/CCE, Republic of Moldova), Congress member on the Election Observation Mission to BiH in October 2018
• Ms Randi MONDORF (Congress, ILDG, Denmark), Congress member on the Election Observation Mission to BiH in October 2018
• Ms. Rosaleen O’GRADY (Congress, ILDG, Ireland), Congress alternate representative on the Council for Democratic Elections, Venice Commission
• Mr Vladimir PREBILIČ (Congress, SOC/G/PD, Slovenia), Congress alternate representative on the Council for Democratic Elections, Venice Commission
• Mr Jean Philippe BOZOULS, Director, Directorate of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
• Ms Renate ZIKMUND, Head of Division, Local and Regional Election Observation
• Ms Jovana VUJANOVIC, Election Observation Officer
• Mr Marcin GERWIN, PhD, a specialist in sustainable development and deliberative democracy, coordinator of citizens’ assemblies. He is a co-founder of Sopocka Inicjatywa Rozwojowa (Sopot Development Initiative), for many years engaged in the promotion of efficient democracy in Poland

EU Committee of the Regions

• Mr Nikola DOBROSLAVIC, Member of the Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX), Member of the CoR's Working Group on Western Balkans
• Ms Milica NEACSU, Deputy Head of Unit, Secretariat of the Commission for Citizenship, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX)
• Mr Luka VIDAK, International Cooperation Specialist/Senior Advisor to Nikola DOBROSLAVIC