Bosnia Presidency members took part in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, where they attended a panel on the EU perspective of the Western Balkans and spoke about Bosnia and Herzegovina's EU integration. They also held a series of meetings with foreign officials.

Speaking at the event, Presidency Chairman Zeljko Komsic said it was important for Bosnia and Herzegovina to get the opening of the accession talks with the European Union in March, saying that it seems like there is a positive mood surrounding that possibility.

“I am an optimist and in a way I believe it will all be positive,” he said.

Speaking about the situation in the Balkans, Komsic said there is always something to be worried about.

“I strongly believe that BiH has friends around the world, that's not questionable. But, our path is well-known, it is clear. It comes from our geographic position, we belong to Europe. It is most logical to be a part of that family. That means the EU, but also NATO,” said Komsic, who is the Croat member of Bosnia's tripartite Presidency.

He expressed concern over the arming of some countries in the region. “Serbia is spending large sums of money, Croatia is a NATO member. As far as I know, nobody is buying weapons and accumulating army if they don't intend to use them,” he concluded.

Bosniak Presidency member Denis Becirovic also joined the discussion, and shared Komsic's expectations about Bosnia's advancement on the EU path as soon as this month.

“The Presidency reached all the goals, the new Council of Ministers and the Parliament have achieved a lot more noticeable results over the past year than previous authorities. The Russian aggression made it that nothing will be the same for years. The reflections of that are visible in the Western Balkans and BiH as well,” Becirovic noted.

He stressed that NATO is a “safe harbour” for BiH and all its peoples.

“That would be a real sign that the times of unrests and conflicts are irreversibly behind us and that we want to build a safe and stable Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Becirovic added.

Zeljka Cvijanovic, the Serb Presidency members, said there was a lot to do on the European path and that the responsibility is on the local authorities.

She also pointed out the differences and points of disagreements among the political representatives, noting that it is necessary to overcome them.

“We can't see things black and white. I don't think we should be digging trenches around the things we disagree on. The Independence Day is not a holiday that is celebrated in the whole BiH, but that should not be a big deal, that's a reality,” Cvijanovic said.

According to her, it is necessary to find a way to overcome the differences.

“We have no law on holidays at the level of BiH and I am saying this with no bad intention, but this gives the entities autonomy to treat this matter on their own,” she said.

Then she emphasised the need to work harder on meeting the conditions on the EU path.

“One does not become a member state overnight, conditions must be met. It takes a bit more agility on our part when it comes to the conditions,” she stressed and concluded: “The essence of the problem is that we work together to overcome the differences and not make them bigger.”