BH FEDERATION PARLIAMENT RATIFIES SPECIAL RELATIONS AGREEMENT

SARAJEVO, May 7 (Hina) - The House of Peoples of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina's Parliament on Friday approved the Agreement on Special Relations with Croatia, completing the procedure of its ratification. Although a discussion on the Agreement was not even scheduled for today, because the parliament was to discuss terrorism in a special session, parliament president Mato Zovko informed MPs it had been agreed that the Agreement, which had been ratified in November last year, be included in today's agenda. Today's discussion was the continuation of a session which had been postponed ten days ago. The decision to include the Agreement in today's session was made after the Office of the High Representative (OHR) had forwarded a legal interpretation regarding the adoption of annexes to the Agreement. The House of Peoples approved the Agreement with a majority vote and adopted a conclusion according to which annexes to the Agreement will have to be approved by the parliament before they are signed, which is in line with OHR's legal interpretation. The Agreement will go into force upon the announcement of the parliamentary decision in the Federation's Official Gazette. (hina) jn rml