The Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Andrej Plenković, expressed his content last night because the European Council decided to grant candidate status to Bosnia and Herzegovina almost seven years after the formal application for membership was submitted.
He stated that Croatia has continuously and consistently supported BiH on its path to the European Union, and added that he was glad because the report of the European Commission clearly supported granting BiH the status of a candidate country.
“I am happy that today’s meeting of the European Council coincided with the meeting of political leaders on the formation of a coalition at the state level, which points to the conclusion that after these elections the situation in BiH is significantly different than it was four years ago. Such functionality and ambition will enable Bosnia and Herzegovina to progress towards the EU faster,” Plenković believes.
He announced that Croatia will continue to help Bosnia and Herzegovina on this path as a friendly neighboring country, and that assistance will be of a political, operational nature within European institutions, as well as in the form of professional expertise in the area of taking over the EU acquis.
He underlined that the granting of candidate status means a message to all citizens of BiH that this is a signal that the doors of the European Union are opening, and that this status will enable BiH to be a beneficiary of other EU funds.
