High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Christian Schmidt met in Bucharest with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, with whom he discussed BiH’s European path.
“Our common priority is for Bosnia and Herzegovina to receive support for the opening of accession negotiations as soon as possible. The European path is crucial for the stability and prosperity of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” the Croatian Prime Minister said on the X social network, adding that he continues high-quality dialogue and cooperation with the high representative.
Plenković previously said that he expected a political decision to be made at the summit of the European Council in the second half of March on the opening of accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, which he discussed with his colleagues from the European People’s Party on the sidelines of the congress in Bucharest.
“We want a political decision on the opening of negotiations to be made on March 22, based on the achievements of the Council of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the past two and a half months since the meeting in Brussels,” Plenković told reporters in Bucharest, reports Hina news agency.
Plenković describes the departure of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Dutch Prime Minister Marko Rutte and himself to Sarajevo a few weeks ago, as well as the recent visits of the heads of diplomacy of Germany, Italy and Austria, as “a great diplomatic initiative by numerous friends of Bosnia and Herzegovina”.
He is convinced that the Commission will come up with a positive solution for Bosnia and Herzegovina so that a political decision can be made on the basis of it at the level of heads of state and government.
“I am especially glad that in this period the law on the prevention of money laundering, the law on data protection, the national reform plan was passed, that the agreement with Frontex was started, that work is being done to reach a consensus on the law on the prevention of conflicts of interest, the law on to the courts and ultimately, I hope, at least a realistic roadmap for reaching a consensus on the electoral law, which is vitally important for the entire country,” Plenković said.
Support for Bosnia and Herzegovina in opening accession negotiations with the Union was at the center of bilateral meetings in Bucharest.
