The last week brought relief to Bosnia and Herzegovina on the European road. The European Commission recognized the adopted reforms and rewarded them with a recommendation for the opening of negotiations. One less exam. All the more reason for the final decision of the European Council to be positive. Before the decision, there are two questions – will the Council follow the Commission and change our country from candidate status to negotiating status, and can the change of status mean better opportunities for the state and citizens?
In Package 1+3, not all laws are included, Bosnia and Herzegovina still goes to the European Council with a recommendation for negotiations. A new chapter is on the horizon, the European Union never closer.
“We actually ran into that last train. Our economy is completely integrated, it is completely dependent on the European Union, so this green light is the greenest we have ever received,” said Elmedin Konaković, Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH (NiP).
“BiH has gained a lot, in terms of political and economic stability…
Will green be replaced by red in the European Council? Downvotes are possible because the results are not the best. But they could be silenced by the unfavorable security situation on European soil. Making decisions based on that principle is more of a chance for our country. Opening negotiations desirable, expectations divided.
“The conditions will be set during the implementation of the negotiations. There will be a million of them, every change in the law is a requirement. Therefore, it is pointless to set some conditions again. I hope that the EU will ‘come to you’ and understand that it is now more important for it, considering that if the right gets stronger, and it is already stronger in Europe, it will come back to us and nationalistic forces will strengthen in us”, believes the political analyst Žarko Papić.
“The current thinking in the EU is that the opening of negotiations certainly does not mean that Bosnia and Herzegovina will become a member of the EU and that, in fact, if and when it becomes a member of the EU, by then all these setbacks, that is, all these tendencies, would have to be in some way conquered”, says the analyst of the Initiative for European Stability Adi Ćerimagić.
However, we will have to wait for the visible effects of the European Union. The leading winning formula remains the same. After reforms, reforms again.
“Only after the negotiations are carried out, after Bosnia and Herzegovina adopts EU standards and EU laws, only then can we talk about any consequences for citizens and the economy, that is, for everyday life. “The opening of negotiations is a political message that opens certain technical processes,” explains Ćerimagić.
Along with a positive decision, the leaders also expect an exact date for the opening of negotiations with the aim of avoiding a multi-year wait. If the European Council accepts the recommendation, a procedure follows.
“You now have a process of screening, determining, mapping our next processes, and then the first intergovernmental conference. So, it is absolutely certain, if there is a positive decision, and it will, God willing, that it is the official beginning. He starts when the technical details agree, and the more serious we are, the sooner we will start negotiations,” says Konaković.
And seriousness is not the strong point of all actors on the European path of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In practice, reforms are mostly on a long stick. Slowed down with blackmail and blockades. And so until the last hour, when the deadline has no extension, so procrastination turns into urgency, Federalna writes.
