Amid new political crisis, Bosnia and Herzegovina's European path once again on hold

(Patria) - On March 5, Bosnia and Herzegovina missed another deadline to submit the Reform Agenda in order to draw funds from the Growth Plan. The authorities have not appointed a chief negotiator with the EU, aligned visa policy with European standards, nor adopted laws in the judiciary sector. All of this, amid a severe political crisis, seems like a distant future. Hope that Europe is still waiting for us is instilled by the visit of the Director of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Gert Jan Koopman.

The main message of the European official to the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina is that the EU path is the best guarantee for the prosperity and stability of BiH. De-escalation of the current situation is necessary, he says, especially because attracting investments through the Growth Plan is at stake. He did not meet with the members of the Collegium of both houses of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, but he did meet with the Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Borjana Krišto, as well as the leader of HDZ, Dragan Čović.

"Peace, stability and territorial integrity of BiH must be fully protected, while we must urgently achieve the necessary progress on our EU path," Čović stated.

A separate meeting was held with the Minister of Finance of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Srđan Amidžić, who claims that the problem for the EU path was never in the Republika Srpska, but in the Federation of BiH.

"It is absolutely clear that there is no EU path if you want to bring the entire leadership of Republika Srpska to justice, politically re-educate them, and that is clear to everyone, including the people at the EU Commission itself," Amidžić said.

This visit is important at a time of attacks on the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH, Elmedin Konaković. It is important that the EU sees that there are two sides, and he expects some processes to be unblocked as early as next week, although at this moment the priority is peace and stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"Just below that is the continuation of the European path, but we must work on both fronts and I think it is not unrealistic because I believe we have the option to adopt through parliament both laws that remain our obligation. We have even opened the topic of electing a chief negotiator in parliament. We are talking about an alternative that is increasingly realistic, which is that five people in the House of Representatives and two in the House of Peoples should become part of a new parliamentary majority and unblock the European path," Konaković assessed.

It is clear that March was a missed opportunity, but the tasks can be fulfilled by June, Konaković is optimistic. That one should not give up on aspirations for membership in NATO and the European Union is also the stance of the opposition in Bosnia and Herzegovina. And this should be used because there will be no changes in international policy towards Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"A comprehensive, democratic Bosnia and Herzegovina, its political independence, respect for the European Convention on Human Rights, the decisions of the Hague Tribunal, respect for all laws we have adopted implementing the Dayton Peace Agreement, all of that is Dayton, that is Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that is the way out of this situation," believes the delegate of the Bosniak Club in the BiH Parliamentary Assembly (SDS), Šefik Džaferović.

"SDS has opened space to support EU laws that do not imply and are not in any part or segment a transfer of competencies from Republika Srpska, in order to give a chance to new ideas and the flow of these European laws on Bosnia and Herzegovina's path to the European Union," stated the member of the SDS Presidency, Đorđe Milićević.

And what the fate of the European path will be will become clearer after the attacks on the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina are stopped or the parliamentary majority changes, because it is clear - the European path of our country is currently on hold.

(BHRT)