Hahn on visit to BiH: We are not here to hold BiH politicians by the hand while they form governments

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Last week I visited Bosnia and Herzegovina and I hope they will soon conclude this phase of integration and that the European Commission will soon give an opinion so that we can forward it," said European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Johannes Hahn, in the European Committee for Foreign Affairs.

"This is an important step, but it should be said that those who are in the country and responsible for making decisions should form a government. However they do it, we are not here to hold their hand to help them form a government. Namely, that is an expression of democratic maturity. Regardless of the difficulties in recent months, they can form a government," Hahn said.

He added that significant progress has nevertheless been made in the countries of the Western Balkans.

"I always ask for a longer framework when assessing progress, because sometimes there are also steps backwards. In principle, when you look at the economy and the rule of law, progress is still visible. The same applies to everything related to reconciliation processes," Hahn said.

Speaking about the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade, Hahn said there is a stalemate and he hopes it will be resolved.

"Resolving this problem and signing a binding agreement between these two countries is a condition for regional projects.

Hahn said that, according to the strategy almost a year old, the EU will admit a country that has resolved its bilateral problems.

"We used the experience from earlier accession processes and we do not want to import those conflicts into the EU," Hahn said.

He told EU member states that they must have a long-term perspective.

"We will present the Annual Report on the situation in individual Western Balkan countries, as well as Turkey, to the European Commission at the end of May," Hahn concluded.