Turkey's influence in Bosnia and Herzegovina is concerning, said Austrian diplomat and former high representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina Wolfgang Petritsch, noting that he is also worried about negative influence of Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban not only in Bosnia but in entire region.

Speaking in N1's Pressing, Petritsch said that Turkey is moving further away from the alliance with the USA and the European Union, which is a reason for concern.

Of course, he added, the relations between Bosnia and Turkey are close due to cultural and historical ties, but they are fine, according to him, as long as they are excercised in line with European standards and values.

However, he also expressed concern over Orban's influence in the region, including Bosnia, stressing that Orban looks like “a puppet” in hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and is trying to make influence on Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik.

The friendship between Dodik and Orban will not help Bosnia and Herzegovina, Petritsch underlined.

He also spoke about the country's aspirations to become a member state of the European Union, noting that he feels like many politicians in BiH only “pretend” to want to join the EU, just like many EU countries pretend to want to have it, but not Austria.

Although the country is closer to EU than ever before, Petritsch deems that in some segments the situation got worse from the period when he was the high representative (1999-2002).

There is no “positive post-war” atmosphere in the country but only pessimism – both among the citizens and the international community, according to him.

The Austrian diplomat emphasised that both Europe and the US do not seem to be taking this matter serious enough, which led to a no-way out situation. New efforts are needed, he added.

Asked if BiH could meet the criteria by March to open accession talks with EU, Petritsch expressed skepticism, but noted that there is enough time to make it. Politicians must be pushed to do what they are asked to do, he noted, concluding that the EU is a club where one needs to be a player who would adjust and only in that way succeed.

Petritsch believes it is possible for Bosnia and Herzegovina to join the EU with current Constitution, which was created within a peace deal in the 1990s. Geopolitical situation in the Balkans requires from both the EU and BiH to meet the conditions of responsibility of the new era that we have entered, he added.

Commenting on a possibility of ‘Cyprus scenario’ happening with Bosnia, Petritsch noted it was a mistake to let a divided Cyprus join the EU, but he does not think the Europeans would let that happen again.

Bosnia and Herzegovina will become a member state as a sovereign country within its current borders, he underlined.

Wolfgang Petritsch (1947) is the Austrian diplomat, social-democrat, who acted as EU's special envoy for Kosovo in the period 1997-1999 and then as the High Representative in BiH from 1999 to 2002.