The Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Borjana Krišto, with numerous BiH delegation, participated today in the first introductory meeting of the delegations of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Commission after the opening of negotiations.
On the EU side, the meeting was chaired by the Director General of the General Directorate for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Gert Jan Koopman.
Kristo once again thanked the European Council and the European Commission for recognizing the efforts and achievements of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the current ruling coalition and making the decision to open accession negotiations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Union.
“This support and recognition are of great importance for the continuation of our work and further progress in achieving our goals,” said Kristo.
She expressed her satisfaction that an ad hoc professional, operational and high-quality B&H event was successfully organized in an extremely short period of time.
She reminded that the goal of today’s meeting is to review the next steps and additional clarification of the negotiation process, especially the preparation and review of the acquis of the European Union, as well as the review of the negotiation structure in BiH, ahead of the upcoming intergovernmental conference.
“It is very important that today, at the very beginning, as well as during the entire process, we show determination and commitment to establishing a constructive dialogue in which the competent levels of government will be involved at all times,” Kristo pointed out and added that today’s meeting sends a strong message from BiH about readiness for cooperation and progress in the EU accession process.
She emphasized that the process of integration into the EU implies the active participation of political representatives in the institutions of BiH, which is why it is crucial to provide space for dialogue and agreement and decision-making in the institutions of BiH, in order to achieve progress on the EU path and improve the stability and prosperity of our country.
She added that BiH’s next steps on the EU path will be based on dialogue, compromise and mutual respect, and that the European Commission expects a quick evaluation of the BiH Integration Program, because feedback is extremely important for the preparation of the next phase of bilateral screening of legislation compliance with the EU acquis.
“The sooner we receive that feedback, the more ready we will be for the next steps in the integration process,” said the chairperson of the Council of Ministers of BiH Borjana Krišto and added that the representatives of the institutions of BiH are working intensively to fulfill all remaining obligations, the Council of Ministers of BiH announced.
