Lasić: BiH is in a deadlock due to politics, and the EU treats us as a non-European country

Croatia marks the first anniversary of its accession to the European Union on July 1, and BiH, despite sharing a 1000 km border with the EU, is no closer to the European integration process a year later. Professor Mile Lasić of the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Mostar analyzes BiH's path towards the European Union and Croatia's first year of membership for the BiH news agency Patria.

- Political processes in BiH are ruthless settling of political scores, legitimizing anti-European narratives and policies that have led to blockades and a complete deadlock in the processes of approaching the EU due to the inability and incapacity to develop a common vision to speak with one voice towards the EU - Lasić points out.

He states that the pro-European narrative implies fulfilling the assumed conditions, which in our case boil down to the implementation of the European Court of Human Rights decision "Sejdić-Finci" and building a coordination mechanism.

- All others who do not want this or pursue their own policies are fierce anti-Europeans, no matter what they think about it and how much they hide behind the Bosnian European narrative, when in fact it is the opposite.

Speaking about Croatia, Lasić states that "Croatia struggled in its first year with a completely new political and legal environment, not because the European Union set new requirements for it, but because the acquis communautaire was only formally implemented.".

- The political culture remained from previous times of totalitarian, transitional, post-war, privatization-looting periods, and a time of internal settling of scores, a kind of civil war of memories, emerged, which created a sense of fear in the eyes of Europeans and in the eyes of us in the region. What is this for, where is it all leading? However, despite this, Croatia has never been better off politically and culturally. It is a member of NATO and the EU, it sits at negotiation tables with others far more powerful than itself, and in that sense, there is no reason to regret embarking on a great cultural-political and civilizational step forward - Lasić states.

Lasić said that BiH cannot be helped from the outside, no matter how much it may seem to some that it is close to Europe and that it needs to change its approach.

- Political elites must change their approach towards this country. BiH is a multinational country and the story about centralizing the EU accession process cannot be hammered. When you are unable to respect each other and build a coordination mechanism, which would put us at the doorstep of EU accession together with Kosovo, and Albania passed us on June 27, we are the bottom of the bottom - Lasić tells Patria.

When asked how much BiH lost due to such an attitude in the catastrophe that struck a large part of the country in May, Lasić was categorical.

- When we have such a position, then even in times of disaster, we are treated as a non-European country, not a country of top priority. But again, we are to blame for that ourselves. Croatia is a member, Serbia has candidate status and they have better conditions, although Europeans should be expected to show heart, not just follow paragraphs, and to help BiH and its desperate people regardless of administrative obstacles - Lasić believes.