After the meeting with the European Council, Sefik Dzaferovic, a member of the BiH Presidency from Brussels, said that an open debate was held which showed that there are completely clear and unambiguous European perspectives of all Western Balkan countries for membership in the European Union.

Dzaferovic said that this was a very important meeting dedicated to the countries of the Western Balkans that did not become members of the EU.

“The meeting was with the European Council. Support was given to all states to meet the conditions as soon as possible and to become members as soon as possible. I was interested in the position of BiH, especially after the European Commission recommended to the European Council that candidate status be granted to Ukraine and Moldova, obviously for geostrategic and geopolitical reasons. I believe, and I said that at this meeting, that it would be unfair to BiH to be left out at this moment from the position of the candidate for membership or granting candidate status. It would also be unfair due to geostrategic and geopolitical reasons, having in mind what BiH has gone through and the length of our European path that has lasted practically since 1999 since the Stability Pact, which was then held in Sarajevo,” Dzaferovic said.

Dzaferovic also pointed out that he had asked the European Council to grant BiH the candidate status for membership in the EU.

“I don’t know if it will be granted. It’s difficult to say at this time what decision they will make. What I can say for sure is that in the future there will be a much closer relationship between the countries of the Western Balkans, including BiH, with the EU administration,” he said.

In the end, Dzaferovic reiterated that what Ukraine is experiencing today, BiH experienced in the 90s, adding that geostrategic and geopolitical reasons were not taken into account when considering BiH which is not fair.