Among the countries that want to become members of the European Union (EU), according to the latest evaluation of the European Commission, which monitors the readiness of countries in 33 areas, from the rule of law and environmental protection to public procurement and the quality of statistics, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is the least prepared country for membership in the EU.
The various levels of government in BiH, from the cantonal to the state level, have never met and agreed on who, when, how and with what finances will be harmonized with EU legislation and standards, the European Stability Initiative points out.
“Our Directorate for European Integration (DEI) has already prepared a framework for such an undertaking for years and has prepared ideas and proposals on how to do it concretely. However, due to the lack of political will, due to the lack of political interest in dealing with this issue, this has unfortunately not yet happened,” says Adnan Cerimagic, European Stability Initiative.
“Things are maturing in BiH, thanks to 14 key priorities we started working on the integration program and, let me say, it is the first time that the prime ministers of all governments said – let’s sit down, agree on how we will work on that document, which will ultimately specify what, who and when will do in this process, and through the coordination mechanism all those disputed issues will be identified,” stated Darija Ramljak, assistant director of the DEI BiH.
The European Commission’s report for BiH clearly states the fact that it needs significant progress in order to fulfill the requirements for EU membership, the EU Delegation in BiH points out. It is well known that when there is political will, progress is possible in this country. There are numerous examples in support of this, especially last year. After the October elections, the authorities in BiH at the state level were formed in record time with a focus on the European integration program and progress on the European path.
“The political elites who have been leading this country for several decades have expressed in several ways that it does not occur to them to harmonize the legislation with what comes to us from the EU. This does not suit them because the way they operate implies that laws are shaped and created according to their interests and wishes,” Professor Asim Mujkic explained.
“Which they, along with successful, so to speak, propaganda, raising tensions, always manage to present as the interest of the wider people, of their own people,” says Ferdinand Koenig, spokesperson of the EU Delegation in BiH.
BiH will never enter the EU as long as this set of politicians is in power, regardless of the political faction, columnist Zvonimir Nikolic stated.
“One of the reasons is that if we join the EU, then someone will have to answer to that EU, which does not answer to anyone here,” says columnist Zvonimir Nikolic.
The Delegation of the EU in BiH calls on the newly formed local authorities to honor their commitments to the program to which they committed themselves and achieve the progress that citizens expect on the European path.
E.Dz.
