OSCE Mission, Council of Europe, United States Embassy, British Embassy and EU Delegation mark International Anti-Corruption Day
On December 12, we mark international anti-corruption day. Corruption remains one of the main threats to securing a prosperous future for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The citizens of BiH have the basic human right to live in a corruption-free society. Corruption-free public institutions are needed to restore trust, improve governmental services, attract investors and remove barriers to economic development.
Political leaders have made commitments to tackle corruption, but not enough is being done. One of the concrete steps that can be taken to prevent corruption is to adopt a robust mechanism for the management of conflicts of interest in the public sector. This is in line with Bosnia and Herzegovina’s obligations and commitments as member of the Council of Europe and a participating State of the OSCE. Moreover, implementing a robust conflict of interest mechanism is an integral part of the EU accession process.
The current conflict of interest mechanisms in Bosnia and Herzegovina are inadequate and do not meet international standards. There are insufficient guarantees for the independence of the state level commission and declared assets and interest are not public. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Brcko District have yet to implement the respective conflict of interest laws. Only in the Republika Srpska is there a body that meets international minimum standards.
We are pleased to see that several members of the State level parliament have proposed a new law on the prevention of conflict of interest, which is being discussed in a parliamentary committee this week.
This offers a unique opportunity where the parliament can take concrete steps forward to strengthen the integrity and accountability of public officials and to restore citizens’ trust. We assess that the draft law would significantly improve the situation and look forward to parliamentary discussions that further strengthen this draft.
The offices of the European Union, the Council of Europe and the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as the United States and British Embassies will continue to support all positive initiatives in the fight against corruption.
Source: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
- 215 reads
