On March 5, Bosnia and Herzegovina missed another deadline for submitting the Reform Agenda in order to withdraw funds from the Growth Plan. The authorities have not appointed a chief negotiator with the EU, harmonized visa policy with the European one, or adopted laws in the field of justice. All of this seems like a distant future in the midst of a severe political crisis. The visit of the Director General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Gert-Jan Kopman, gives us hope that Europe is still waiting for us.
The main message of the European official to the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina is that the EU path is the best guarantee for the prosperity and stability of BiH. He says that de-escalation of the current situation is necessary, especially since attracting investments through the Growth Plan is at stake. He did not meet with members of the Collegium of both houses of the BiH Parliament, but he did meet with the Chairperson of the BiH Council of Ministers, Borjana Krišto, as well as HDZ leader Dragan Čović.
“Peace, stability and territorial integrity of BiH must be fully protected, while we urgently need to achieve the necessary progress on our EU path,” Čović said.
A separate meeting was held with the Minister of Finance of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Srđan Amidžić, who claims that the EU path has never been a problem in Republika Srpska, but in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“It is absolutely clear that there is no EU path if you want to detain the entire top leadership of Republika Srpska, politically re-educate them, and that is clear to everyone, including the people of the EU Commission itself,” said Amidžić.
This visit is important at a time of attack on the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elmedin Konaković. It is important for the EU to see that there are two sides, and it expects some processes to be unblocked as early as next week, although at the moment the priority is peace and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“A little below that is the continuation of the European path, but we have to work on both fronts and I don’t think it’s unrealistic because I think we have the option to adopt both laws that remain our obligation through parliament. We even opened the topic of electing a chief negotiator in parliament. We are talking about an alternative that is increasingly realistic, and that is that five people in the House of Representatives and two in the House of Peoples should become part of the new parliamentary majority and unblock the European path,” Konaković assessed.
It is clear that March is a missed opportunity, but the task can be fulfilled in June, Konaković is optimistic. The opposition in Bosnia and Herzegovina also holds the position that we should not give up on aspirations for membership in NATO and the European Union. And that should be used because there will be no change in international policy towards Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“A complete, democratic Bosnia and Herzegovina, its political independence, respect for the European Convention on Human Rights, the decision of the Hague Tribunal, respect for all the laws that we have passed implementing the Dayton Peace Agreement, all of that is Dayton, that is Bosnia and Herzegovina and that is the way out of this situation,” believes Šefik Džaferović, delegate of the Bosniak Club in the BiH Parliamentary Assembly (SDA).
“SDS has opened the space to support EU laws that do not imply and are not in any part or segment the transfer of competences to Republika Srpska, in order to give a chance to new ideas and the flow of those European laws on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s path to the European Union,” said SDS Presidency member Đorđe Milićević.
And what will be the fate of the European path will be clearer after the attacks on the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina stop or the parliamentary majority changes, because it is clear – our country’s European path is currently on hold.
