Obama and EU Concerned About Political and Economic Stagnation in BiH

United States President Barack Obama and European Union leaders Herman van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso are concerned about the political and economic stagnation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to an official statement after the EU-US summit in Brussels, reports the BiH news agency Patria (NAP).

President Obama visited the European Union for the first time and held a summit on the most important issues of relations between the major Western powers. The focus was, of course, on the situation in Ukraine, Syria, and the energy crisis, as well as the issue of communications surveillance. However, Obama and the highest European leaders nevertheless announced their position on key issues in the Western Balkans, including BiH, in the 17th point.

- In the Western Balkans, we want to strengthen and improve regional stability, the continuation of negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina with the help of the EU, which leads to progress in normalizing relations in accordance with the April 2013 agreement. Also, we share deep concern about the current political and economic stagnation in BiH. We are ready to help the country move closer to European and Euro-Atlantic structures – the joint statement of the US and EU after the summit states, reports NAP.

According to unofficial information from the Patria agency, the US president did not directly discuss BiH and the Balkans with the Europeans during the summit; rather, the position on this point was previously agreed upon at lower diplomatic levels.

However, the fact that this issue was among the conclusions, as we learn, indicates that BiH is increasingly among the priorities of Washington and Brussels, reports NAP.