The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elmedin Konaković, said tonight that the EU has opened the doors of BiH, offered specific projects, funds and processes, and that now everything is up to BiH.
Konaković said at a press conference in Sarajevo that Bosnia and Herzegovina has a historic opportunity and that funds from the new EU investment package for the countries of the Western Balkans would be an injection for the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina and an opportunity that the country has never had before.
He stated that there are rules according to which these funds could be used, reminding that the new framework for the Western Balkans is six billion euros, the old one is 14 billion euros, and the IPA funds are 30 billion euros.
Speaking about yesterday’s ministerial conference in Berlin on EU enlargement, Konaković said that Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, and the countries of Western Balakan are still in focus and that Brussels is showing that it is counting on them most seriously so far.
“It seems to me that the EU is more concrete than ever. It is up to us to fulfill some of the obligations. I no longer think that it should be all at once or at least not with the dynamics that were discussed before so that we would have what we should get only when we become member of the EU,” Konaković said.
He pointed out that the most important story is the integration into the EU market, which would make domestic companies more competitive, product placement much easier and serious potential for investors who, for the benefits they would have, would much more easily decide to bring capital to BiH and open companies and factories.
Konaković said that BiH has this opportunity until the end of the year, intensively, and later with less intensity.
According to him, agriculture could become competitive in such a way that BiH could use EU funds for subsidies, which the country could not do on its own until now.
He appealed to the politicians in BiH to take this opportunity seriously, not to waste energy on unimportant things, but to do everything to make the citizens of BiH feel good in their pockets, as well as to keep the youth in the country.
Konaković announced that on Sunday, November 5, he should travel to Dubai, if weather conditions permit, and that a day later he should sign an agreement with the United Arab Emirates on the end of the visa regime for citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He added that, after Argentina, this is the second country to abolish visas.
Commenting on information that a letter from Hamas addressed to him appeared, Konaković said that it is a fabrication and that he has confirmation that the letter is not authentic, and that such stories are making BiH a radicalized political scene, Srna reports.
