Džaferović from Brussels: It is up to us to fulfill all 14 priorities

(Patria) - The Chairperson of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Šefik Džaferović, and members of the BiH Presidency, Milorad Dodik and Željko Komšić, are on a working visit to Brussels today.

After a series of meetings, Džaferović stated that they had achieved what they wanted with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, which is to boost BiH's path towards the EU.

"The most important thing from the meeting is that the relationship between the EU and BiH institutions will be continuous and constant. It is up to us to fulfill all 14 priorities, but we will have strong support from EU institutions. We must dedicate ourselves to the work and convince the institutions as soon as possible that we are working diligently on resolving the priorities, and the sooner we do that, the sooner we will get candidate status," he emphasized.

They also touched upon other topics. As Džaferović said, BiH will have support from the EU regarding the resolution of the migrant crisis, Covid 19, and regional initiatives supported by the EU.

"They should be a step towards the membership of all Western Balkan countries in the EU and will not be a substitute for the European path," he stated.

Speaking about the report, he said that it covers 16 months. And out of those 16 months, 11 months were marked by blockades of institutions in BiH.

"A completely unnecessary blockade, a foolish waste of time. I hope we will not find ourselves in such a situation again. We have done some things in the past 5-6 months, and this is clearly detected in the European Commission's report. And if we continue to work in the future as we have in the past months, then it is quite realistic that we will prove ourselves as a credible partner that is genuinely working on the realization of the 14 priorities, and then we will get candidate status next year. This is what they told us at all the meetings," he confirmed.

He emphasized that BiH's path is the European path, and there is no alternative.

"The sooner we finish this, the better it will be for everyone in BiH," Džaferović concluded.