Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency Member Sefik Dzaferovic supported the idea of setting a time frame for Bosnia and Herzegovina and other Western Balkan countries to join the European Union.
The European Union should expand to the entire Western Balkans by the end of the decade, is the proposal of the bloc’s presidency, which astonished member states ahead of the summit on Brdo near Kranj “EU and Western Balkans” planned for next week.
The idea of accelerating the accession of the Western Balkan countries, including Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, was born in Slovenia ahead of a meeting of European Union leaders to discuss the enlargement of the Union, which now consists of 27 countries, the Financial Times reported earlier.
As Dzaferovic said, despite certain dilemmas when it comes to EU enlargement in the past period, it is clear that awareness of the importance of enlargement is maturing in the EU itself.
“It has been clear for a long time that the Western Balkans need the EU, but within the EU it is becoming clear that the European Union also needs the Western Balkans. I had the opportunity to see it at the Bled Strategic Forum. I expect that awareness to continue to mature at the upcoming summit on Brdo near Kranj “, added Dzaferovic.
The issue of EU enlargement to the countries of the Western Balkans is primarily a geostrategic issue, he noted, and not an administrative issue, and that is how it should be viewed.
“States should, of course, meet all the conditions, but with a clear and credible perspective and political support, we will certainly be able to do so more easily,” said a member of the BiH Presidency.
He expressed confidence that setting a timeframe for accession would inspire optimism and new synergies, and give a wind in the back to pro-European forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region.
