The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Bisera Turkovic, said yesterday in Brussels that the European Union (EU) must respond to a policy that destroys peace and progress in BiH and the Western Balkans, emphasizing that destabilizing BiH would pose a danger to the EU.
At an informal meeting of regional foreign ministers with the co-chairs of the Conference on the Future of Europe entitled “Discussion on the Future of Europe – Perspectives and Contribution of the Western Balkans”, Turkovic pointed out that recent events on the Belarusian-Polish border indicate the need for a “much more assertive and proactive EU role” which can also be seen in Southeast Europe where there is an open threat of destabilization of the entire region, and thus the entire EU.
“The EU cannot afford to drag the Western Balkans into a crisis like the one in the 1990s. And that is exactly what is happening before our eyes,” she noted.
Turkovic mentioned that “there is a politician in BiH who not only prevents and blocks our entry into the EU but at the same time, with the support of allies from other sides, contributes to destroying the progress made in the past 26 years.”
Furthermore, she warned that the destabilization of BiH would also lead to the destabilization of the entire Western Balkans, which would pose a danger to the EU as well.
“Would the EU tolerate the construction of the new Berlin Wall on the artificial entity border within BiH, where on the one hand there are those who support the EU and on the other hand those who support Russia? Along with globalization and interdependence, geopolitical stance and influence in the Western Balkans it is a new reality that the Union must recognize and respond to quickly, “ she stressed.
“While looking at the current picture at the EU’s borders, you can only imagine what pictures we will see in the Balkans if the processes which have been already launched (they not only violate the Dayton Peace Agreement but also adopted laws and European standards) are not stopped,” she added.
Turkovic assessed that the future of the EU itself will determine the attitude towards the challenges on its borders in many ways, and noted that, along with the migrant crisis, the biggest challenge is “a policy that destroys peace and progress in BiH and the Western Balkans.”
She emphasized that BiH is strongly committed to its strategic foreign policy priorities and goals, primarily the process of European integration.
E.Dz
