Bosnia and Herzegovina and its all levels of government showed commitment but need to deliver even more on the priorities that the European Union expects for the EU Council to follow the recommendation and open the accession negotiations with the country, European enlargement commissioner Oliver Varhelyi sad in Brussels on Tuesday following the high-level political forum between the EU and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Since our last meeting in Sarajevo a lot has happened. We see the commitment. We see positive developments on much needed and long awaited reforms,” said Varhelyi, following the meeting.
He thanked BiH prime minister Borjana Kristo for the “stamina with which she is carrying out the work in the Council of Ministers, and with which she has been able to turn the tide in BiH together with the new political construction.”
Varhelyi stressed that the decision to grant the candidate status for the country was the right choice to make and that it has brought results “we have not seen and development we have not seen before in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
“We are convinced that Bosnia and Herzegovina can do more, we are convinced that Bosnia and Herzegovina can to better and this is what this government led by Chairwoman Borjana Kristo has been doing and delivering,” he stressed.
He went on to mention the list of work the governments at all levels in BiH have done so far including a swift formation of governments, adoption of budgets as well as the adoption of reform laws, establishing of Europol contact point and high level of alignment of the Bosnian with the EU foreign policy.
“With these developments we see a major change in the approach and a major change in the working of all the institutions and the functioning of the institutions throughout the country, and for these achievements I think we would all have to appreciate the dedicated work the government is doing for the country and in the country,” said Varhelyi.
As for the future steps, he stressed that the European Commission's enlargement report said very clearly that BiH needs to deliver more on the key aspects and the key reforms.
“However, we also see that with this commitment and with this level of delivery we are ready to propose and recommend to the Council to open accession negotiations with BiH once we have further progress pretty much along the same lines we have seen now being delivered,” he said.
The meeting, according to him, confirmed not only that all levels of the state share and follow these priorities but that they are also willing to work on them, so hopefully the Council will follow the recommendation and adopt the decision to start the accession talks possibly in March next year.
“This is very good news for BIH, this has been a major encouragement also for us here in Brussels to see that the work continues, the commitment is stronger than ever and this is why we need everybody in BiH now to deliver on that,” Varhelyi added.
Addressing the media, Kristo said that the number of the participants in the BiH delegation that came to Brussels with a harmonised text of conclusions speaks about the “absolute commitment” to the EU path of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to her, the country made a significant progress over the past month since the delivery of the EC's report on Bosnia and Herzegovina and that the authorities will formally submit on Wednesday a plan of reforms that was drafted by an ad hoc commission “in a record time.”
“I believe that we matured indeed and that we can ensure all necessary prerequisites to strengthen dialogue between the institutions of BiH, as well as the political leaders in BiH, who will lead us to the fulfillment of all those conditions lying ahead of us. We expect that Bosnia and Herzegovina will get the final date for the opening of the accession talks with the EU by the end of this year,” said Kristo.
She thanked commissioner Varhelyi for the continuous support and his dedication to the European road of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The next high-level political forum is planned for May 2024.
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