Bećirović: I do not doubt Čović's good intentions, but BiH's EU membership application is premature

The announcement by the Chairman of the Presidency of BiH, Dragan Čović, that the application for BiH's membership in the EU will be submitted on February 15, has divided the public in BiH. Some experts believe that this is still a premature move by the current authorities, which will only bring new problems to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Finally, Brussels is not exactly thrilled with the way the authorities in our country are thinking.

The membership application was only considered when a positive signal arrived from Brussels. In this case, from Brussels, but also from some of the most powerful EU countries, the signal is to wait with the submission of the application, says Dr. Zijad Bećirović, director of the International Institute for Middle Eastern and Balkan Studies (IFIMES) from Ljubljana, in an interview with the Patria agency.

PATRIA: The Chairman of the Presidency of BiH, Dragan Čović, announced that BiH will submit the application for BiH's EU membership on February 15. Given that clear signals have arrived from Brussels that this should not be done until all conditions are met, what can now happen with such a non-credible application?

BEĆIROVIĆ: From the previous practice of countries that had the ambition to become EU members, the submission of the membership application came only when a positive signal arrived from Brussels. In this case, from Brussels, but also from some of the most powerful EU countries, the signal is to wait with the submission of the application, i.e., to better prepare it and submit it by the end of this year. If the membership application is eventually submitted, it could at this moment face a fiasco, which no well-intentioned person in BiH needs.

PATRIA: What is your information regarding the stance of European officials on this move that Čović announced?

BEĆIROVIĆ: As I already said, in the EU leadership, the announcement of the submission of the application represents a certain surprise, and the expectation is that it will not happen now, because it is necessary to first find a solution regarding the establishment of a coordination mechanism, the adaptation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), and some other issues. I do not doubt the good intentions of the Chairman of the Presidency of BiH, Dragan Čović, but I think that submitting the application at this moment would be premature. I believe that the EU should grant Bosnia and Herzegovina a privileged path to EU membership due to all the mistakes and "sins" it committed against that country at the beginning of the 1990s. If we consider how Bulgaria and Romania (minimal conditions and criteria) became EU members, then BiH truly deserves to have a privileged path to EU membership, and thus Europe can at least partially cleanse its conscience when it comes to BiH.

PATRIA: Is there a possibility of blocking the European path for BiH given that a non-credible application is being submitted?

BEĆIROVIĆ: The European path of BiH has been blocked for years, so submitting an unprepared and non-credible application would be illustrative, because it would once again show and confirm what kind of people are actually leading Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it would speak more about those so-called leaders than about anything else.