The action "Strenghtening the protection of national minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina“ organized its final Steering commitee meeting followed by a closing event on 7th May 2019.

Mr. Drahoslav Štefanek, Head of Council of Europe office in Sarajevo, congratulated the stakeholders on succesful implementation of the project. He highlighted the importance of ensuring the sustainability of results and the importance of keeping the issues of minority protection and promotion high on the agenda of the relevant authorities. Furthermore, he stressed the need for continuious communication and co-operation of all relevant stakeholders which has been initiated through the implementation of this particular project. Finally he expressed the gratitude to the European Union, Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees and other partners for their active participation and excellent co-operation.

Mr. Želimir Lalić, Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees BiH, stated that such projects are important in order for national minorities not to be assimilated in BiH society. He also emphasized the importance of having a joint approach towards protection of national minorities on BiH level.

The analysis of the Law on the protection of national minorities in BiH, that has been carried out within the project, highlighted that there are issues which are incompatible with applicable European standards, especially the high thresholds for exercising the rights of minorities (such as in the field of language or education) and it has been recommended that these should be changed.

Mr. Vedran Ian Kjeldsen, Council of Europe, mentioned that the Minority Co-ordination Group, that was established through this project and chaired by Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees BiH, is an important platform for discussion and it demonstrated its true potential throghout the implementation of this particular project.

The project raised the visibility of national minorities within all planned activities. Cities and municipalities that had grants organised competitions on knowledge of national minorities, prepared publications, documentaries, TV and radio shows with numeorus media coverage, all with a goal of raising awareness of national minorities. During the closing event, representatives from Brčko District, Prijedor, Prnjavor, Sarajevo and Tuzla presented the main results that arose from grants.

Members of the Steering Committee commented that many results have been achieved within a very short period of time.

The project “Strengthening the protection of national minorities in BiH” is funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe. It is a part of the joint programme called “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey”, implemented by the Council of Europe.