European Parliament President Martin Schulz gave a press conference during a visit to Sarajevo on Thursday, in which he addressed the economic and social challenges facing BiH and its neighbors. President Schulz also spoke about the planned referendum in the RS, which deals with the BiH Court and Prosecutor’s Office. Mr. Schulz recognized the importance of referendums to the democratic process, but said that the planned referendum in RS would be “high risk.”
Therefore, I think referendums are then meaningful and useful when it is about the fundamental questions. If they are used for tactical reasons – it is the wrong instrument.
From Brussels, a spokesperson for European foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Commissioner Johannes Hahn issued a statement calling the planned referendum a “challenge [to] the cohesion, sovereignty and integrity” of BiH, and stressed that “the shortcomings of the BiH judiciary, especially those of a systemic nature…should continue to be addressed…in the Structured Dialogue on Justice.”
Earlier this week a session of the Dialogue had to be cancelled because EU organizers had failed to set an agenda for the meeting.
