After dinner with the ruling trio, Varhelyi remains silent, meeting with Čović today

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations Oliver Varhelyi is visiting BiH. Unlike yesterday, when he commented on his Twitter profile after meetings, after last night's dinner with the presidents of SDA, HDZ BiH, and SNSD, Bakir Izetbegović, Dragan Čović, and Milorad Dodik, at the residence of the Head of the EU Delegation, Johann Sattler, Varhelyi has not published a single word about the meeting with the three party presidents. None of the three were willing to speak to journalists last night either, and Čović briefly said that Varhelyi would make a statement regarding the meeting.

Varhelyi's silence continued today, even though he held a meeting with the High Representative in BiH, Christian Schmidt, this morning. 

Today, he will also hold a meeting in Mostar with Dragan Čović, after which Varhelyi is expected to leave BiH. 

Yesterday, Varhelyi held a series of meetings, including a meeting with the members of the Presidency of BiH, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Zoran Tegeltija, and the Ministers of Finance, Vjekoslav Bevanda, and Security, Selmo Cikotić. He also held a separate meeting with Izetbegović, and a joint meeting with the leaders of opposition parties from both the FBiH and RS. Varhelyi also travelled to Banja Luka, where he met again with Dodik and the leadership of the BiH entity of RS, and then returned to Sarajevo for dinner. 

During yesterday, Varhelyi emphasized that the blockade of state institutions and the withdrawal of the RS entity are unacceptable, and he called for dialogue and finding solutions. The European Commissioner very clearly warned representatives of both the authorities and the opposition that BiH faces a kind of blockade in terms of European Union funds for infrastructure development and other EU programs, amounting to more than 1.5 billion euros, because laws and necessary decisions are pending. 

The President of SDA, Bakir Izetbegović, told reporters today during the commemoration of BiH Statehood Day that the meetings were an attempt to relax the atmosphere to enable some progress.

"An exit from the crisis was sought, of course, what to do with Inzko's law, which could potentially be passed in Parliament with some amendments that suit the Serb side. For example, mentioning Jasenovac and the genocide in Jasenovac, without going into details. Again, in front of Mr. Varhelyi, who is not familiar with the details of the situation, we discussed the demands of HDZ, our counter-conditions related to the leadership of the House of Peoples, i.e., the old topics."

When asked by journalists whether the meeting could be characterized as successful, he said:

"It was successful in that we sat and talked, that we are not silent, and that we are trying to bring positions closer. I think, we were all three yesterday, that all three of us want the situation to be resolved, the crisis to be overcome, and to move forward. So, there was no usual arrogance from one of the three."