Gabriel Escobar, the US Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, spoke in an interview with N1 about the electoral reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the issue of corruption, recalling that according to some dana, BiH is the most corrupt country in the Western Balkans and almost the most corrupt in Europe.

Speaking to N1 Croatia, he emphasised the importance of holding the elections and encouraged all parties in the reform talks to be flexible and open, and to engage in the negotiations in goodwill.

“Bosnia and Herzegovina is a sovereign and independent state, we're no longer in a position to impose solutions or to determine path of their political development. We encourage it and we encourage it immediately, we encourage it in a way that opens the door for them to come closer to the European Union, he said,” said the US official.

He expressed hope that the elections would take place by the end of the year in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Speaking of the issue of corruption, Escobar noted that the real problem in the country is not that the people do not want to live with the Croats, the Bosniaks or the Serbs, but that the young people are leaving because they cannot get a job without “corrupt connections.”

“That's what's harming Bosnia more than anything,” he stressed.