The European Parliament (EP) adopted by a large majority at a plenary session in Strasbourg a resolution on Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH), which underlines that the submittal of the EU candidacy bid requires a functional state and government.

European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele stated Wednesday that the year 2012 will be crucial for BiH's progress towards the EU.

The EU needs to witness convincing efforts to make progress on the European agenda, beginning with the constitutional reforms, Fuele underlined, adding that other requests comprise tax policy regulation, good technical preparation for population census, and better coordination between entities in order to secure implementation of the reforms.

The Resolution urges the BiH authorities to fight against extremism, religious hatred and violence in close cooperation with the international community, and calls for awareness, investigation and elimination of all kinds of extremist threats in the entire west Balkan region.

The text prepared by EP Rapporteur for BiH Doris Pack does not include the section on Wahhabis, an issue which during the dispute in the Foreign Policy Committee caused fierce reactions in BiH.

The first version of the resolution called on the Islamic community in BiH to state its negative stance on increasing Wahhabism, but this part was later left out.

The resolution was backed by 557 MPs, opposed by 40, while 37 abstained from voting.