The Bosnia's Presidency meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel is a regular meeting and one should not expect too much from it, the Democratization Policy Council's Senior Associate Bodo Weber has told N1.
Asked if Merkel would make some sort of influence on the Presidency members regarding the unsuccessful talks on electoral reform in Bosnia, this expert on the EU policies said that the European Union did not enter the process of these negotiations seriously enough.
The EU and the US took advisory role through its ambassadors to Bosnia in ongoing political talks on changes to the Election Law. Although the October election has been announced, the leaders did not manage to reach consensus on how to implement the Constitutional Court's decision treating the electoral regulations.
According to Weber, Merkel may exert “a bit more of a pressure” on Croat leader Dragan Covic during the Wednesday meeting.
VEZANE VIJESTI
“There is a raising awareness and opinion in the EU that the most unconstructive and the least compliant side in this process is Croat side, that is Mr. Covic and HDZ BiH (the Croat Democratic Union),” added Weber.
Speaking about his recently published paper “The EU's Failing Policy Initiative for Bosnia and Herzegovina“, Weber said that the EU's initiative for Bosnia failed and that relations between the EU and Bosnia were in a transitional phase.
The EU adopted a new strategy for Bosnia in late 2014, jointly developed by the UK and Germany, which focused on structural socio-economic reforms that had to be conducted in this country within its EU integration process.
