Bosnia and Herzegovina will be suspended from the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly until the end of 2019 because it has not appointed its new representatives to that body six months after general elections in the country, a representative of the Council of Europe in Bosnia and Herzegovina said on Monday.

Bosnia and Herzegovina will not be able to participate in the work of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly until the end of the year. That means that it will not be able to participate in making one of the most important decisions this year, on the appointment of the new Council of Europe secretary-general, the head of the Council of Europe office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Drahoslav Stefanek, said.

Stefanek added that Bosnia and Herzegovina representatives would not participate in three sessions of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly or in the work of its committees.

Under the Council of Europe rules, member-countries must appoint their new delegations to the Parliamentary Assembly within six months at the latest from the day of elections, otherwise they are temporarily suspended.

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s delegation in the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly has ten members.