After being on N1 TV, British Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Matt Field wrote in his blog that reforms in Bosnia need to start as soon as possible and governments at all levels need to form as quickly as possible, after the October general election in the country.
“I have seen many political campaigns, in this region and elsewhere, but I don’t remember ever seeing one with less focus on improving citizens’ lives,” Field wrote in his blog.
He noticed that all Bosnian parties are “in theory committed to the EU path, but Brussels and Member-States judge a potential candidate on their actions, not their words.”
He said that Bosnia showed little in the past two years because of a lack of political will.
“In 2014, the UK and Germany led efforts to refocus reforms and restart the EU path. The situation is different now. Some reforms were successfully implemented, and many were not, because of a lack of determination,” he noted. “A new Reform Agenda is not needed today. What citizens need is a renewed and firm commitment by BiH politicians to further and deeper reforms.”
According to him, a good place to start would be looking at what is driving so many talented, often young Bosnians, to leave the country.
The politicians should support jobs and attract business. “It is just too complicated and difficult to do business here – BiH was at 89th place in last week’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ report.
The next thing on the list is tackling corruption and organised crime, and improving the courts. “Only 12 percent of Bosnian citizens believe the authorities are effective in preventing corruption. Serious crimes are rarely prosecuted successfully, and commercial courts have huge backlogs,” he wrote
Public services should also be improved as Bosnian citizens “consistently talk about Bosnia’s poor education and healthcare.” Schools and universities need to prepare students for the challenges and opportunities of the future, not the past, he said. This includes IT and problem-solving skills.
The Ambassador also said that Bosnia, indeed, has many partners who want to help, including the EU, its Member-States, the US and many more.
Reforms have to start, as soon as possible, he stressed, and the people of Bosnia deserve and should demand, much better.
