Euphoria fades: Čović and Zvizdić lied that BiH would submit EU membership application in January

Dragan Čović, Chairman of the Presidency of BiH, on December 17, 2015, told journalists as the main conclusion of two held sessions that BiH would submit its application for membership in the European Union (EU) in January 2016, writes the Patria news agency.

According to Čović, although many believe this application has more symbolic significance, for him it is of historical importance for BiH's path towards European integration.

-We accepted the report of Denis Zvizdić, Chairman of the Council of Ministers, who informed us about the talks he held in Brussels. Then we committed as members of the Presidency to submit the application for membership in the European Union in January 2016, Čović said at the time.

Three days before this historic press conference by Čović, it was Zvizdić who, during talks with the Political Director for the countries of the Western Balkans, Turkey, and EFTA countries at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, Ernst Reichel, was “amicably warned”, as Patria learns, that BiH should not rush to submit the application because two key conditions had not been met—the coordination mechanism and the adaptation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement.

-Reforms are the path we are taking and they are yielding positive results. We have developed a credible Reform Agenda for a four-year period, and we have already completed 20 percent of the tasks. All vital economic parameters are slightly increasing. We are fully committed to strengthening regional cooperation because it means strengthening the process of good cooperation, reconciliation, and jointly accelerating the path of European integration. This speaks to our seriousness and clear commitment to submit the application for membership in the European Union in the near future, Zvizdić said during that meeting.

However, he omitted the warning and advice of the German diplomat to the members of the Presidency of BiH, or perhaps it was just part of a plan to show the public that this country with this government is nevertheless “making strides on the path to the EU”.

Both Zvizdić and Čović deceived citizens with the story about submitting the application in January, despite the warnings they received in the final months of 2015.

That the joke was over, Zvizdić saw only on January 5, when the celebratory atmosphere faded, and he announced that the application would be submitted in the coming months.

This was clearly confirmed today, when it was stated from Brussels that there is nothing of the application, because two conditions have not been met.