CEI Summit Begins in Sarajevo: Zvizdić Says EU is BiH's Main Goal

Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH Denis Zvizdić addressed the participants of the Central European Initiative Summit held in Sarajevo on the occasion of the conclusion of Bosnia and Herzegovina's presidency of the CEI. Incidentally, out of 18 invited prime ministers, only the Prime Minister of Belarus Andrei Kobyakov, who is taking over the CEI presidency, responded, Patria reports.

In his address, Zvizdić said that Europe and the region are facing numerous challenges, from violent extremism, radicalism and terrorist threats, to violence that violates human rights, or economic challenges caused by global processes of uneven and unbalanced development, war conflicts and rising poverty as root causes of extremist behavior or current migrations.

It was emphasized that most countries in Central and Eastern Europe, members of the CEI, are not developing at the required pace, which has as its most challenging consequence the migration of young, educated and talented people, and the rise of radicalism that threatens basic values based on justice and fairness.

- For Bosnia and Herzegovina, and I believe I share the opinion with all other countries in our region, a strong, stable and successful Europe is of utmost importance. The principles on which the EU is founded: equality, solidarity, fairness, creating a society of knowledge and equal opportunities, multi-ethnicity, the rule of law and mutual respect and understanding are values that still make the EU attractive and appealing, especially for the countries of the Western Balkans - Zvizdić said.

The Chairman of the Council of Ministers emphasized that EU membership is and remains the most important foreign policy priority of BiH, and obtaining candidate status by the end of 2017, i.e., opening chapters by the end of 2018 or the beginning of 2019, remain at the top of the priority list in the work of all legislative and executive authorities in BiH.

- The EU accession process has been the main driver of political and economic reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Western Balkans for over a decade. We in BiH are fully convinced that the European Union, geographically, economically, culturally, is not and cannot be complete without the accession of the Western Balkan countries. In this regard, it is extremely important to continue and further improve cooperation among the member states of the Central European Initiative and the European Union, especially with countries that are still in the process of EU accession - Zvizdić said.