Is the EU preparing to punish BiH citizens: A visa to get off the European track or accession negotiations?

By: Rasim BELKO

The European Union is considering introducing visas for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. The main reason cited is the non-alignment of the visa system with the EU, but in essence, the EU could take this step due to "fear" of migrant flows announced for the spring.

This announced move is in direct opposition to the announcements we have been hearing for months from representatives of the reformist Bosnian-Herzegovinian authorities. While they announce that we could get a ticket for the negotiation process by the end of the year, news is arriving that citizens and businessmen from our country could lose the greatest benefit of BiH's struggle for EU accession so far.

Because, the visa-free regime is the only concrete benefit for BiH citizens from the arduous path to the EU so far.

And why would they introduce visas for us?

While EU bureaucrats announce that the reason is that we have not introduced visas for China, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Azerbaijan, and Russia, they are actually punishing us for not agreeing to be a transit country for unfortunate people from the East fleeing the flames of war initiated/supported by EU funds and its allies.

Because, introducing visas for the mentioned countries has little to do with the migration story. Neither Russians, nor Arabs, nor Chinese emigrate through Bosnia and Herzegovina to the EU. On the other hand, citizens of these countries visit our country in large numbers as a tourist destination, so introducing visas would mean a much more complicated journey to Sebilj, Kravice, Trebević, and other tourist attractions in BiH for them.

Introducing visas for countries from which we are recording significant tourist growth would mean a direct blow to our country's economy and tourism. At the same time, we would further worsen bilateral relations with some countries.

However, it is interesting how the story about the abolition of the visa-free regime for BiH citizens coincides with the propaganda that has been ongoing for weeks about Bosnia and Herzegovina as a country of terrorist cells. And in fact, this could be the first reason why they might eventually revoke our visa-free regime.

Croatian politics, as well as Islamophobes in the top echelons of EU governments, who clearly see BiH as a country of Taliban killing people on the streets, are continuously and synchronously working on this. Bosnian-Herzegovinian diplomacy has clearly failed here, as it has neither sent a message in time nor strongly enough that the threat of terrorism in BiH is the same as in Switzerland, Austria, or Spain. On the other hand, BiH diplomacy has failed to point out that Bosnia and Herzegovina has never had dilemmas about standing on the side of counter-terrorism, regardless of who the perpetrator is and to which religion that perpetrator belongs.

Second reason - Agreement with Frontex

Internal, primarily political circumstances in Bosnia and Herzegovina, have led to the agreement with Frontex not being signed. The key role fell to the Minister of Security, Nenad Nešić, who insists on the visibility of the MUP of the entity RS in this agreement.

The agreement with Frontex, however, carries a dangerous threat to Bosnia and Herzegovina. That threat is the readmission agreement, based on which EU member states would return all migrants who illegally enter the EU through our territory to us.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has neither requested nor has any interest in migrations going through its territory, so readmission would be a direct punishment for BiH citizens, who have already suffered enough from the migration issue.

That readmission, as part of the agreement with Frontex, would mean that all migrants are returned to our country, thus making us a camp for tens of thousands of homeless people who do not know where or where they are going. This is a serious security problem, as these migrants are still being imputed to us in the propaganda about possible terrorism.

And so, while our radically bad government announces the possibility of opening negotiations with the EU by the end of the year, the EU is preparing a double blow to Bosnia and Herzegovina that will set it back in many ways.

The accumulation of migrants and the introduction of visas will certainly jeopardize not only the path to the EU but also the security and economic situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We have all seen this before in a movie we thought we had left behind long ago.

Ultimately, what good is that EU to us if we cannot travel there as Europeans, which we were long before those who are now acting like Europeans towards us.

If the EU continues to insist on the abolition of the visa-free regime for BiH citizens, then we should stretch Orban's "razor wire" along the entire border. This would prevent Syrians, Afghans, and Pakistanis from seeking a better life in the EU on our backs, and prevent Croats and Serbs from illegally entering our country and representing us as terrorists.

Because, obviously, for some Europeans, only the policy of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, works!