After the elections, the new authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina received a serious warning from Brussels. The time to fulfill the obligations from the Growth Plan expires on December 31, and almost 374 million euros are at stake. The chief negotiator with the European Union (EU) has not been appointed, key laws have not been adopted, and reforms are pending. While the countries of the region are making progress, Bosnia and Herzegovina risks missing another European opportunity.
Deadlines are running out, reforms are late
Message and warning from Brussels – another in a series. For Bosnia and Herzegovina, the door to European integration has been open for a long time. The conditions for the Growth Plan are clearly specified, but concrete steps are still missing.
The European Commission warns that the deadline for the implementation of reforms is approaching, after which Bosnia and Herzegovina could lose significant funds.
“The grace period for the first 50 reform steps, whose deadline was December 2025, lasts 12 months and expires on December 31, 2026. This means that Bosnia and Herzegovina will soon be exposed to the risk of losing 373.9 million euros if the conditions are not met and the reforms implemented,” states the European Commission.
The conditions have been known for two years. The chief negotiator with the EU has still not been appointed, the laws on the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina have not been adopted, and the country has not yet held the long-awaited first intergovernmental conference to formally start the negotiation process. Deadlines expire, and key obligations remain unfulfilled.
The president of the Atlantic Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dijana Gupta, warns that the expected progress was not made in the past year and that much will depend on the priorities of the new government.
“It seems to me that in this last year we have done almost nothing when it comes to this. You yourselves know what the political system is like in Bosnia and Herzegovina and that we really do not have a consensus when it comes to our foreign policy goals. However, we have reason to hope if the new government, when it is formed, puts the country first,” said Gupta.
The region uses European funds
The opportunities offered by the Growth Plan are already being used to a large extent by the countries of the region. Bosnia and Herzegovina was given the opportunity to access significant funds, a total of one billion and 85 million euros. Having already lost ten percent of that amount, she has 967 million euros at her disposal, and due to failure to fulfill her reform obligations, she risks losing additional hundreds of millions.
Gupta believes that, given that the new government has not yet been formed, it is difficult to expect significant progress in the short term.
“Considering that we have a transitional government and that a new one has not yet been formed, it is difficult to expect that we could get anything at this moment,” Gupta pointed out.
Aćimović: An important and security dimension
For economic analysts, the importance of the Growth Plan is equal to a political deadlock in the midst of geopolitical troubles. Economic analyst Draško Aćimović points out the importance of cooperation in the field of cyber security, as well as food and water security.
“There are other very important things. We see that wars are spreading and that this is also reflected in the so-called hybrid wars. This is why it is important that Bosnia and Herzegovina be part of common, or collective, cyber security. It is also necessary to be involved in other areas, such as food and water security, for which the European Union allocates huge funds,” said Aćimović.
The deadline for fulfilling the obligations from the Growth Plan expires on December 31, 2026, so the formation of a new government is eagerly awaited, Federalna writes.
