The newly appointed City Council of Mostar adopted a decision, on February 5th, to conduct the election of the mayor of Mostar by public ballot. This decision contravenes Article 36 of the Statute of Mostar, which states that the elections in the City Council must be conducted by secret ballot.

This is the message from today's joint statement by the OSCE Mission to B&H, the European Union Delegation/European Union Special Representative, the Embassy of the United Kingdom, the Embassy of the United States of America and the Office of the High Representative on the City Council of Mostar.

-We, the undersigned, call on the City Council to bring its voting procedures back into compliance with the Statute of Mostar and to repeat the first round of elections for the mayor of Mostar. A country aspiring to become an EU Member State must adhere to the principles of the rule of law. We call upon all city councilors to show responsibility and to swiftly elect the Mayor in full accordance with the rule of law and the Statute of Mostar in its next session- it is said in the statement.