The Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sefik Dzaferovic, said that the Friday visit by the President of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, is extremely important for Bosnia and Herzegovina ahead of the session of the European Council, which will decide on whether to grant BiH candidate status for EU membership.

“We are extremely grateful to the European Commission and President von der Leyen for recommending the granting of candidate status for Bosnia and Herzegovina. As we were informed earlier, unconditional candidate status was recommended, with the expectation that, as a candidate state, we would make reform progress in eight areas in order to move forward towards the opening of negotiation chapters, which would be a new step on the European path,” Dzaferovic said in a statement to the FENA news agency after the EC President met with the three BiH Presidency members.

Von der Leyen's visit comes after the EC recommended granting EU candidate status to BiH earlier in October, which Dzaferovic said would have “a strong stabilizing effect” on the country.

“Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina would be strengthened, further reform progress would be encouraged, and the strong geopolitical role of the European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in the entire Western Balkans, would be confirmed,” Dzaferovic stressed.

He pointed out that the stability of a country like Bosnia and Herzegovina requires moving forward and a credible perspective, because in the absence of a positive agenda, as well as with stagnation in implementing reforms, further polarization and undermining of stability due to internal tensions in the country and the aggressive interference of neighbouring countries can be expected.

“Further destabilization of the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a reaction to the additional weakening of the European perspective, would mean enormous problems for the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the European Union, which is clearly evidenced by the implications of the war in Ukraine,” he emphasized.

He argued that BiH also deserves candidate status because of the progress that has been made despite the complex political situation.

“We informed President von der Leyen that, at today's session of the Presidency held before her arrival, we adopted a conclusion by which we authorized the Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers, Zoran Tegeltija, to initial three agreements at the summit in Berlin, on November 3, which start the implementation of the Joint Regional markets within the Berlin process”, he said.

He also said that the energy crisis in Europe was one of the topics discussed at the meeting and that the EC President informed the BiH Presidency members that the European Union will include Bosnia and Herzegovina in its financial support package for dealing with the consequences of the energy crisis.

“Bosnia and Herzegovina is part of the European Energy Community, our goal is to be included in the European framework for dealing with the energy crisis. President von der Leyen said that the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be invited to participate in the meetings of the EU energy ministers, and she invited us to work together on the Energy Roadmap”, he said.

“The candidate status for BiH, as well as strategic changes in terms of energy and overall changes within Europe, can be an opportunity for new steps forward in BiH. It is necessary that, after the formation of the government, there should be a positive agenda on the table, so that the institutions can work on projects that will benefit the citizens, instead of stagnation and polarization”, Dzaferovic concluded.