On Thursday, December 19 2013, the Initiative for Monitoring BiH’s European Integration presented the Shadow Report on the Progress of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s European Integration. The Initiative comprises 17 organizations from the entire territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Researcher Vedran Kordić, Tijana Cvjetićanin (UG Zašto Ne?), Saša Gavrić (Sarajevo Open Centre) and Damir Banović (Centre for Political Studies) spoke on behalf of the Initiative.
The Report states that in 2013 Bosnia and Herzegovina saw regress instead of progress on the path towards European Union. Civil society organizations are not satisfied with the nontransparent communication between the EU and BiH, which takes place away from the public eye and includes political parties only. The goal of the Initiative for Monitoring is to give a voice to the civil society in that dialogue. The Initiative intends to continue its work in the following years, and to widen the scope of monitoring from political institutions and human rights to other aspects of European integration. The Initiative for Monitoring invites all civil society organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina that can contribute to the monitoring effort to join this project.