In political circles and in the media in the last several months, there has been lots of speculation about whether or not Germany has started a new initiative to organize Bosnia and Herzegovina as a civic country and that Zagreb is opposing that. To check this, we directly contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany, where they told us that Germany advocates a transformation of BiH in a democratic country with the rule of law.
Answering the question if the claims that Germany is defining a new approach towards BiH, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that they strongly support the European perspective of our country and that they’ll continue supporting her reform process.
“The German-British initiative from 2014, which brought about a new approach and a Reform Agenda, shows our intent to develop in the process of joining the EU. We consider regional cooperation important and that is what why created the Berlin Process, which aims to strengthen neighborly relations and speed up accession into the EU,” they said from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany.
They add that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Sigmar Gabriel (for example, at the Aspen Conference in Berlin on May 31st) clearly stated that Germany considers that the EU perspective must be real and felt for BiH and that the EU and its member-states must be very active in order to counter the interests that don’t wish for BiH to enter the EU and are, therefore, slowing down the pace of reforms. They note that this initiative, which is now called “Berlin Plus” aims to increase attention and support to the Western Balkans, both in Germany and in the EU.
We openly asked the German government if they advocate a civic organization of BiH, about which many are discussing in political circles, both in BiH and in neighboring Croatia.
“Germany advocates a transformation of BiH into a modern democratic country with the rule of law. In the European integrations process, BiH will have to pass the legal acquis of the EU, which is the collective standards and rule of the EU that also include basic democratic standards. That is a precondition for accession into the EU. At some point, that will require constitutional and electoral reforms, as well as the implementation of the decision of the European Court of Human Rights. However, for now, Germany views that all efforts should be invested in implementing major socioeconomic reforms and reforms aimed at strengthening the rule of law,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany said.
(Source: Klix.ba)
