<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Parliament, Félix Bolaños, traveled this week to the Western Balkans, where he discussed strengthening cooperation with Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the area of justice, with particular attention to compliance with their obligations.</strong></h4> Bolaños was received on Wednesday in Sarajevo by the Bosnian Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Justice, Elmedin Konaković and Davor Bunoza, respectively, according to the Ministry in a press release. In his meeting with Konaković, Bolaños emphasized Spain's support for Bosnia and Herzegovina's entry into the European Union, while the Foreign Minister (according to the Bosnian government website) reiterated that, for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the perspective provided by the European Union is the only and best solution for the country's progress, particularly given the political problems generated by the Republika Srpska (Bosnian Serb entity), whose obstacles to the integration process, he asserted, are not only detrimental to the country as a whole, but also to the region. According to the Bosnian Foreign Minister, his government continues working to set a date for the first EU-Bosnia and Herzegovina Intergovernmental Conference and the start of the negotiations themselves. Accession negotiations, which are still active, received the green light from EU leaders in March 2024. For his part, Davor Bunoza expressed his country's interest in learning from the judicial digitalization process underway in Spain, and Bolaños conveyed to him that funding is key to modernizing the justice system and that the successes achieved by the Spanish government in this area have been possible thanks to European funds. "The visit to Sarajevo has further strengthened the cooperation between Spain and Bosnia in matters of justice," the Ministry reported, noting that a Spanish judge, Jorge Obach, is in charge of the component for strengthening the monitoring and evaluation capacities of the High Council of the Judiciary and the Prosecutor's Office (HJPC) of Bosnia, through the EU4Justice program and thanks to the collaboration of the Spanish Ministry of Justice with the Foundation for the Internationalization of Public Administrations (FIAP, under the Foreign Ministry), the State Attorney General's Office, and the General Council of the Judiciary. <h5><strong>Serbia</strong></h5> Bolaños traveled to Belgrade on Thursday, where he was received by Serbian Minister of Justice Nenad Vujić. During the meeting, the two ministers shared their respective experiences in the digitalization of justice and the protection of minors in the digital sphere. Bolaños expressed the Spanish government's support for Serbia in the European-oriented reform processes it is undertaking to join the European Union. Serbia has been a candidate country since 2012 and has been a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe since 2000 and of the Council of Europe since 2009. Separately, according to the Serbian government, Vujić and Bolaños discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation in the field of justice, the exchange of experiences in the fight against organized crime and corruption, and the confiscation of criminal assets. The Serbian minister also thanked Spain for its support in fulfilling Serbia's obligations toward European integration. Spain is actively cooperating with Serbia to fulfill its Chapter 24 obligations under the EU accession process. Therefore, a Spanish judge, Marta Pizarro Mayo, is serving as the lead expert in the component related to strengthening skills and capacities to combat organized crime, collaborating directly with Serbian judges and prosecutors, within a FIAP project. Furthermore, in February 2024, the Prosecutor General, Álvaro García Ortiz, signed a memorandum of cooperation with his Serbian counterpart, Zagorka Dolovac, to enhance bilateral relations.
