Member of the European Parliament, Tineke Strik, as the keynote speaker at the session of the Krug 99 (”Circle 99”) association, said that now it is necessary for the European Union(EU) to have a stronger engagement to provide more active support to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), i.e. actors who work on the rule of law, civil society, but also to offer young people an economic perspective for the future.
Speaking on the topic “From Dayton to Brussels: Put BiH towards the EU and the latest decisions of the Office of the High Representative (OHR)“, Strik said at a press conference via Zoom that October 2nd should have been a day to celebrate democracy, an important step and an incentive for further reforms in BiH. However, as she added, thanks to the decisions of High Representative Christian Schmidt, a step back towards ethnic divisions and nepotism was made.
”My colleagues from the European Parliament and I criticized the decisions of high representatives because we need reforms that will be inclusive and we need to follow the path that will lead us to the principle of “one man, one vote”, i.e. to complete democracy instead of returning to nationalist divisions,” Strik pointed out.
She stated that in light of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the level of awareness in the EU has now increased regarding the importance of the Western Balkans getting closer to the EU.
”In order to achieve this, we need unity within the EU related to policies towards the Western Balkans, but we also need unity against foreign interference by states in the internal affairs of BiH. We must also make sure that member states such as Croatia and Hungary do not unilaterally set their national interests as a priority in that process,” added Strik.
According to her, the EU should take a strict stance regarding the conditionality of further funding and the EU accession process. Strik added that 14 priorities of the European Commission are known and that in this sense the EU should be very clear that it is necessary to implement democratic reforms.
”It is in the interest of the EU that the Western Balkans, and thus BiH, come closer to the EU, and it is necessary for the EU to take ownership of these processes and the initiative because, as we know, the decisions of High Representative Schmidt were initiated more by the United States (U.S.) and Croatia. In this sense, the EU should be brave to show the U.S. what the true democratic path means and alignment with the viewpoints and legislation of the EU,” added Strik.
The president of Circle 99, Adil Kulenovic, before moving on to the topic of the session, expressed his deepest and sincere condolences to the people of Turkey and Syria, the families and friends of the victims of the catastrophic earthquake on behalf of the members.
”We invite all institutions and citizens to continue providing assistance to the victims in their own capacity. We, who in the recent past expected the solidarity of the world, today must show it with our own concrete actions,” told Kulenovic.
