European Official: Brussels is in constant contact with Čović, we thought everything was agreed with him

A high-ranking European official from Brussels confirmed to the Patria News Agency that key EU figures, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn and the head of Slovak diplomacy Miroslav Lajčak, whose country holds the EU presidency, have been in constant contact with HDZ BiH leader Dragan Čović throughout the day, regarding the agreement reached yesterday between SDA and SNSD leaders Bakir Izetbegović and Milorad Dodik on the Coordination Mechanism.

- When the seven BiH leaders agreed in Brussels in July 2012, and subsequently signed the Coordination Mechanism, it was clearly stated, and they accepted, that the state of BiH would speak with one voice in its contact with Brussels. Brussels needs to have a single point of contact for discussions in order for BiH to progress on its path towards the EU, our source says.

Furthermore, he says, both Commissioner Hahn and Minister Lajčak believed that what Izetbegović and Dodik signed in the presence of the Head of the EU Delegation to BiH Lars Gunnar-Wigemark had also been agreed upon with Čović.

They are also puzzled as to why the leader of HDZ BiH was not invited to the meeting at the Barka restaurant.

- We are trying to resolve this problem, or rather the disagreements that have arisen, as soon as possible. Čović stated in his letter that one level of government was excluded, referring to the cantons. On the other hand, we have statements from Bakir Izetbegović claiming that this is not true. We believe that this issue will be resolved as soon as possible and unblock BiH's European path, says the NAP interlocutor from Brussels.