Circle 99: Blockers and proponents of BiH's European path must not be equated

(Patria) - The author's text by the Head of the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina starts from a series of accurate observations: slow pace of reforms, institutional blockade, missed opportunities, and real risks for the country's European path. However, from these premises, a conclusion is drawn that is logically and politically problematic – that the responsibility for the situation lies with the "BiH authorities" as a whole, meaning all political actors equally, states Circle 99.

"This is precisely where the key logical error lies. From the fact that the system does not function, it cannot be automatically concluded that all its actors are equally responsible. Such a logical trick erases the essential difference between those who consistently advocate for European integration and those who systematically block every attempt at reform, openly questioning the very state structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This ignores political reality: in BiH, there is not a uniform lack of will, but a deep political division between pro-state forces striving to fulfill European obligations and separatist forces consciously producing institutional crises. Equating these two positions means misdiagnosing the problem – and a wrong diagnosis necessarily leads to wrong therapy.

In addition to being logically flawed, such an approach is also politically and morally questionable. It is morally problematic because it avoids naming responsibility where it clearly exists. Instead of clearly identifying the actors blocking the European path, the text resorts to general formulations about the "lack of political will," thereby diluting and relativizing responsibility.

Ultimately, such discourse produces a discouraging political effect: it encourages precisely those forces that actively obstruct progress. If everyone is equally responsible, then no one is truly responsible. If there is no clear political identification of the blockades, then blockades become an acceptable state, not an unacceptable deviation.

At the same time, the text avoids a key issue: the absence of a clear vision and political strategy from the European Union for the transition of Bosnia and Herzegovina into a modern, functional European state. The European path is reduced to a technical process of fulfilling reform tasks, without a political framework that would clearly define the ultimate goal and the way to achieve it. Such an approach does not take into account the depth of institutional and constitutional blockades, nor does it offer a strategy for overcoming them based on the values of the EU and a modern democratic state.

Furthermore, the policy of prolonged appeasement, bureaucratic inertia, and the absence of clear political signals towards destructive actors in BiH is a permanent part of the problem. One cannot speak of "missed opportunities" without precision as to how these opportunities were shaped, guided, and politically protected from obstruction.

The European path of Bosnia and Herzegovina depends not only on abstract "political will" but on a clear distinction between those who build that path and those who dismantle it – but also on the existence of a consistent, politically articulated strategy of the European Union that actively supports the former and sanctions the latter.

Therefore, it is necessary to insist on precision: Bosnia and Herzegovina is not stagnating because everyone lacks the will for progress, but because a part of the political spectrum is actively blocking reform processes and undermining the institutional framework of the state. As long as this fact is not named clearly and unequivocally – both internally and externally – and as long as the European Union does not develop a clear political strategy for the democratic transformation of BiH, the European path will remain hostage to misjudgments, insufficient political determination, and a lack of real leadership," states Circle 99.