The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, sent a letter, a response to the letter of Denis Becirovic, a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), in which she states that BiH started 2023 with strong and positive incentives.
“After the granting of candidate status by the European Council and the appointment of a new Council of Ministers, the country has the opportunity to turn a new page and accelerate work on the European Union (EU) agenda. The candidate status is a clear message to the citizens that BiH is part of our European family. This comes with high expectations. The EU path is open and requires the country to carry out excellent EU-oriented reforms,” Von der Leyen said in the letter.
As she further states, the Commission is counting on the Council of Ministers to make decisive decisions in order to take the steps highlighted in the Commission’s recommendations for candidate status and the 14 priorities highlighted in the Commission’s opinion on BiH‘s application for EU membership.
Von der Leyen, at the same time, points out that the Commission will further engage in political dialogue with the new authorities regarding the framework for a high-level political forum to monitor the implementation of the 14 key priorities and report on further progress, noting that the Commission is counting on full support on the issue of that process from the Presidency of BiH.
“Allow me to thank you, as the entire Presidency, for aligning BiH with the EU’s foreign policy, one year after Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine. I truly appreciate your commitment to the rules-based international order, and I count on BiH to continue to stand by Ukraine and the EU,” Von der Leyen points out.
At the same time, she underlines the commitment of the EU to BiH on its European path.
“Be sure of the EU’s complete and unwavering commitment to BiH as a single, united and sovereign state to achieve its goal of becoming a member state of the EU,” states Ursula von der Leyen in a letter addressed to the member of the BiH Presidency, Denis Becirovic, the chairwoman Zeljka Cvijanovicand member of the collective head of state Zeljko Komsic.
E.Dz.
