Vice-Mayor of Brcko District (BiH) visits AER Office in Brussels

In course of his two-day mission to Brussels, on Friday 5 February, Mr. Esed Kadric, Vice-Mayor of Brcko District of BiH visited the AER Office in Brussels. Alexandre Brecx, on behalf of Secretary General Mathieu Mori, welcomed Mr. Kadric and offered him a tour of the new AER Brussels office.

In the follow-up discussion, Vice-Mayor Kadric,  accompanied by Mujo Hadzic, Détaché Adviser for Intergovernmental Relations,  discussed with Mr. Brecx the ongoing and future activities in 2016. Following a short presentation of AER Programs, current and forthcoming activities, Vice-Mayor Kadric, has shown extensive interest in AER’s Eurodyssee Program.

Mr. Kadric offered a brief overview of the current status of Bosnia’s path towards the EU membership and explained that Brcko District of BiH could serve as a model for the rest of the country. He explained the importance of full implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement signed between the EU and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Association Agreements have to be accepted by the European Union and need to be ratified by all the EU member states and the state concerned. The first states to sign such an agreements were Greece back in 1961 and Turkey in 1963.

The Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) between the EU and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) entered into force on 01^st of June 2015. The SAA establishes a close partnership between the EU and BiH and deepens the political, economic and trade ties between the two parties. It represents the main framework for the relations between the EU and BiH, further preparing the country for future EU membership. Since August 2015. the Government of Brcko District of BiH participates in the Secondment Programme of the AER with an experienced seconded regional officer full time deployed to AER Brussels office serving as Détaché Adviser for Intergovernmental Relations with focus on monitoring the full implementation of Association Agreements between the EU and the Associated Countries.

Brcko District of BiH is a member of AER since 2009 and since 2014 it has a seat in Bureau as well. Back in 2014, Mr. Djordja Kojic the President of the Assembly and Dr. Anto Domic, the Mayor of Brcko District of BiH hosted a conference on Regional Branding opportunities and welcomed the President D.Hande Oszan Bozatli and members of AER’s Executive Board in Brcko.

AER will continue to offer expertise and exchange of knowledge between its members and support the regions from Associated Countries striving towards the full EU membership.

For more information regarding Associated Countries, please contact the AER Secretariat.