Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)Zeljko Komsic said yesterday, addressing the members of the European Council in Brussels, that the active role of the European Union (EU) and its political presence can thwart potential intentions to cause conflict situations that could lead to escalation in our region as well.
Komsic assessed that we are still in a very complex geopolitical moment for Europe, caused by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and that the situation is further complicated by Israel’s disproportionate military response to the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians.
Chairman Komsic reminded that in such a geopolitical context yesterday in Brussels the further direction of the integration of the Western Balkans into the EU was being discussed.
Komsic emphasized that, from the perspective of BiH, “it is clear that our candidate status, acquired a year ago, as well as the recent conditional recommendation of the European Commission for opening negotiations with BiH, is the result of the tense geopolitical situation on the borders of the EU and that obtaining candidate status has absolutely nothing to do with meeting the standards and realizing the assumed obligations.”
Chairman Komsic, in addition, thanked the Commission and the Council for their positive attitude towards BiH. He also warned that, although support for BiH‘s entry into the EU is still in the majority, that percentage is slightly decreasing.
“In this sense, I expect the responsible officials to fulfill the obligations they have assumed, including the obligations that the leaders of the political parties assumed at the meeting with you, President Michel, exactly 18 months ago, in this same place. Finally, when it comes to citizens, the specific regulations, standards, and procedures are, at first glance, far from their sphere of interest. I would therefore recommend that the EU pay attention to the preservation of ‘European values’ as a type of emotional aspect of integration that is often neglected, but turns out to be very important,” said Komsic.
Also, he believes that underestimating the subjective attitude of citizens towards the value system on which the EU is based can lead to a situation where those citizens give up on the EU.
“At the end of the day, the system of values that we believe still exists in the EU makes us in BiH determined to be part of the EU. Giving up those values will turn BiH society away from the EU itself, and the EU will gain another source of instability on its own borders,” believes Komsic.
E.Dz.
