EU: Bosnia Must Ramp Up Anti-Corruption Efforts

Bosnia’s anti-corruption agency is hampered by a lack of funds and staff, said Paola Pampaloni, Head of the Department for Bosnia in the European Commission's Directorate-General for Enlargement. At a meeting in Bosnia’s capital Sarajevo on Monday between the representatives of the European Union (EU) and the Bosnian lawmakers, Pampaloni stressed that in its current configuration, the agency is unable to effectively tackle corruption in the country. The EU representatives met with the Bosnian state parliament, the parliamentary representatives from Bosnia’s two entities - Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina - and representatives from Brcko district. The Monday meeting was the first in a series of events in the “Parliament for Europe” initiative organized by the EU, with the goal of advancing Bosnia’s efforts to join the European Union.