The European Union is not a place, it is a path towards progress, Slovenia’s Ambassador to Bosnia, Zorica Bukinac, told N1.

“I came to Bosnia during an interesting period, a dynamic period for all of the Western Balkans. This period requires more effort from Bosnia, but also from all of us in the vicinity and a special approach from the European Union,” she said.

All parties have EU membership as a goal in their platforms, but the EU itself is not a goal, she explained.

“It’s a way in which Bosnia can best progress at this moment and achieve its vital interests. It is not a place, it is a path,” she said. Change needs to be organic, not bureaucratic, she explained.

“Change is never easy,” and there is no shortcut towards the EU, the Ambassador said.

“I am convinced that whoever means well for this country and its people, must take responsibility for the way in which political goals like the EU are achieved. It is a union of values, a union of visions and of human rights,” she said.