Oliver Varhelyi, Commissioner for the Enlargement of the European Union, will be in BiH today. He will attend the third high-level political forum. The arrival of the commissioner is expected. But, whether BiH politicians welcome the commissar empty-handed? It is known that Bosnia and Herzegovina has taken on obligations that it must begin fulfilling. Without reforms there is no money. Or does it? The basic condition is the adoption of the budget.
The commissioner for enlargement in BiH comes with two issues on the agenda. The first is related to the Growth Program for the Western Balkans, where the European Commission expected BiH to come up with a list of reforms to be adopted by the end of 2027. Each success from the list every six months would bring a new tranche of grant money to our country. Domestic politicians were not even able to send a complete list to Brussels. So the logical question arises, how will it be implemented?
“First of all, Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted a certain list, i.e. the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that list was sent to the EU Commission, but there was no public reaction from the EC. What is known is that the list was incomplete, that is, it did not correspond to the EC’s latest suggestions at the time. In that sense, I assume that Commissioner Varhelyi will try to either put pressure on them or talk to the representatives in Bosnia and Herzegovina about what is missing from that list, i.e. what else is needed,” explains Adnan Ćerimagić, analyst of the European Initiative for Stability.
And before completing the tasks on the list, it is necessary to adopt the budget for the current year. BiH is not there either and politicians are in no hurry. It’s been half a year since we’ve been waiting for adoption. Projects are also waiting. There is money, there is no political agreement.
“We now have over 800 million BAM in accounts that are waiting to be used, which are shares, funds from Elektroprijenos, RAK, and that is absurd BiH. We are talking to creditors to give us funds from loans to build projects, and now in at the moment we have over 800 million BAM in our accounts, and that’s it, we can’t come to an agreement politically. These are the issues that we are trying to put into one political package and to solve the issue of the budget and these funds in the package.” , says BiH Finance Minister Srđan Amidžić.
“If we don’t adopt the budget, we have a big problem and I think that the first tranche could bypass us. 70 million euros of funds that should go to BiH’s account. Which can solve many problems and be invested in infrastructure projects is a consequence of our political We expect the representatives from the RS to accept the additional conditions prescribed by the EU”, states the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elmedin Konaković.
The European Union has set many tasks before Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the green light for the opening of negotiations for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s membership in the European Union, we have taken on numerous challenges. They did little, almost nothing, because the negotiations with Brussels require the presentation of the agreements reached.
“For the next step in the process, we need to have new and visible results as soon as possible, and at the latest by the publication of the new annual report of the European Commission, which we expect in the fall. There are many challenges and there will be, but that cannot be an excuse for us not to work,” says the Director of the Directorate for EU Integration Elvira Habota.
There is no shortage of excuses, while concrete results are lacking.
“Aware of our organization and competences, which are actually widely decentralized when it comes to different levels of government, sometimes we need a little more time and additional efforts to harmonize our positions within ourselves,” said the chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Borjana Krišto.
Considering all this, analysts are not optimistic that Varhelyi visit will bear fruit. Domestic politicians dealt with populist topics for daily political purposes, instead of implementing reforms.
“There wasn’t too much time in the previous period, one would say, for EU officials. However, I sincerely hope that our authorities will wake up. Somehow it seems to me that they are still in the same dream that was the dream of Europe for them , they saw it as a reality when they received this negotiating status, and since then we have not had any serious information that would indicate progress,” emphasizes political analyst Admir Lisica.
There remains hope that Varhelyi could wake up the sleeping politicians of the ruling coalition in Bosnia and Herzegovina and unfreeze the funds that our country needs so much, not only to bring us closer to the European family, but to turn a sleeping state into a prosperous one, BHRT writes.
