Bosnia will miss the chance to start EU accession talks this year if it does not adopt the laws demanded by the EU within the next six weeks, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković warned during their visit to Sarajevo on Tuesday.
“If March is missed, this whole year will be lost in terms of making positive decisions about Bosnia. There are no doubts about that,” said Plenković after the meeting, adding that this is an election year within the EU.
“Based on what we heard, my impression is that this message was well understood and accepted,” Plenković added.
Rutte said the Netherlands is not ready to give the green light to start negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“The enlargement of the EU has always been and will be based on merit. There are no shortcuts, that step must be based on fulfilled criteria,” Rutte added.
He also agrees with Plenković’s assessment that this year’s negotiation process will be lost if negotiations do not start in March. Nevertheless, he said that the Netherlands is ready to help BiH adapt to the requirements of EU membership.
Von der Leyen also called on the country not to miss this opportunity.
“This is a moment that should not be missed. It is a great opportunity for Bosnia and the EU because the EU is not complete without the Western Balkans,” von der Leyen said, adding that the Union wants to see a complete Bosnia in its membership.
The Commission chief also said the EU was ready to help Sarajevo adopt the necessary laws but added that Bosnia must achieve specific results to obtain a recommendation for the opening of negotiations in the European Commission’s report in March.
This was echoed by Borjana Krišto, for whom 25 January will mark her first year as head of the Council of Ministers, Bosnia’s central government. She also pointed out a consensus among the political leaders in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the need to implement reforms to join the EU and stressed that Sarajevo has fully harmonised its foreign policy with the EU over the past year.
“All this gives me strength, optimism and belief that in March, we will get a date for the start of negotiations. The road to the EU is not easy, but with our efforts, we will get there,” Krišto added.
In Bosnia, the representatives of both entities – the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska – and all three constituent peoples (Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs) have the right of veto, which they often use.
“It is unlikely that Bosnia and Herzegovina will adopt the required laws in just six weeks. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a complex country with a complex way of decision-making,” Anđelko Milardović, a political scientist and sociologist and founder of the Zagreb-based European Centre for Migration Studies, told Euractiv.
In contrast to Milardović, Croatian MEP Željana Zovko is much more optimistic about the possibility of BiH opening negotiations by March.
“I expect Bosnia to open negotiations in March. I think Bosnia needs a pragmatic approach to achieve results because foreigners who come to BiH often do not know the local context. If politicians in BiH agree on something, then it should be implemented and not interfered with,” Zovko concludes.
(Adriano Milovan | Euractiv.hr)
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