The European Commission (EC) could deliver its opinion on Bosnia's membership application by end of May if the country forms governments at all levels, European Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn announced in a press conference on Thursday after he met with Bosnia's senior officials, as well as political and NGO representatives.
Hahn said the Commission was working hard on drafting the opinion based on the answers to the Questionnaire that Bosnian authorities recently sent to Brussels.
However, he recalled that some of the questions remained unanswered.
“You know that 22 questions were unanswered, but that is something we can work on. It is our ambition to publish the opinion by end of May under the condition that government is formed not only at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina but also at the level of Federation (one of Bosnia's two semi-autonomous regions). We need that because we have to have a partner on the other side, we must have authorities who will keep working on these questions,” he said.
#EU integration process is not about pleasing officials in #Brussels, but about improving lives of citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina ?? – Commissioner @JHahnEU addresses media in #Sarajevo pic.twitter.com/jMNVjaDLtA
— EU in Bosnia and Herzegovina (@eubih) March 28, 2019
European Union (EU) will send an expert to help authorities in Bosnia improve the judicial system, Commissioner Hahn announced in the press conference.
He said it will be a German expert who helped other countries in the region improve their judiciary.
“Colleague Reinhard Priebe will come next week to Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is a retired German judge who helped us work in Albania, Macedonia to improve their judicial systems. He directly deals with the improvement of the rule of law,” he said.
In a meeting with Bosnia Presidency members, the EU official said it was important to continue working hard on implementation of reform processes. Post-election formation of governments at all levels is a priority, he added.
The Presidency members expressed hope that once the Commission states its opinion on Bosnia's membership application, the EU member states would positively decide on the country's road to the Union i.e. will grant it the status of candidate soon, read the Presidency's statement issued after the meeting.
Commissioner Hahn arrived for an official visit to Sarajevo on Thursday, the first visit of an EU official after Bosnia submitted answers to the European Commission's Questionnaire and after the Presidency's recent visit to Brussels.
