It is important that all three members of Bosnia’s tripartite Presidency want Brussels to be their first destination after they get sworn in, said the Head of the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lars-Gunnar Wigemark amid the South-East European Government Communication (SEECOM) Association’s conference.

“It’s very important they all agreed that their first joint visit should be to the Brussels, to jointly represent Bosnia,” he said following the recent statements by the newly elected Presidency members.

Bosnia held its eighth general election on Sunday, October 7, at which Sefik Dzaferovic from the centre-right Democratic Action Party (SDA) was elected as the Bosniak Presidency member, Zeljko Komsic from the centre-left Democratic Front (DF) as the Croat Presidency member and Milorad Dodik from the nationalist Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) as the Serb Presidency member.

Wigemark, who is the EU’s Special Representative (EUSR) to Bosnia stressed the importance of open dialogue for becoming an EU member state.

“When Bosnia becomes part of the EU, its citizens will feel equally European as well as citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina but also as Bosniaks, Serbs, Croats and Others,” Wigemark stressed.

According to its Constitution, Bosnia consists of three constituent peoples, Bosniaks Serbs and Croats as well as Others. This last group consists of all other nationalities and ethnic groups other than the three major ethnic groups in the country.

The EUSR said he hoped there would be discussions about the future of the country after an intensive election campaign but his hopes have still not come true.

“I’d like to see political leaders come together and discuss this topic even if only in general. But after these talks, they’d have to talk a bit more about how to ensure stable coalitions capable of passing difficult decisions necessary for Bosnia's EU accession process and in that context to discuss the meaning of the European identity,” said the EURS who was one of the participants of the SEECOM annual conference held in Sarajevo.

SEECOM is an international non-profit professional association, based in Budva, Montenegro, which seeks to promote the highest ethical and professional standards of public sector communications and good governance through professional exchange between public sector communicators in South Eastern Europe.