More than 50 MPs from EU member states support accelerated opening of negotiations with BiH

(Patria) - Members of the Delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PSBiH) to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg, consisting of Sabina Ćudić, Saša Magazinović, Darijana Filipović, Mia Karamehić Abazović, Mladen Bosić and Miroslav Vujičić, through joint diplomatic efforts secured the support of more than 50 MPs in the national parliaments of European Union (EU) member states and the region for the accelerated opening of EU negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This support was confirmed by the signatures of MPs from EU countries, thereby highlighting an unequivocal stance on the need to accelerate BiH's European path. The signatories of the initiative, MPs in the parliaments of Germany, Austria, France, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Portugal, Hungary and Greece, state in their support for opening negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina that BiH's commitment to adopting laws from the 14 priorities of the European Commission's opinion represents the basis for accelerating the European path.

“We firmly believe that opening negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina would send a clear signal of encouragement and support for BiH's progress. Such a decision, at this crucial moment, also contributes to peace and security in the region, as well as to peace, stability and security throughout Europe,” states the document, which was signed on the initiative of all members of the PSBiH Delegation by more than 40 MPs from EU member states.

Undisputed support for the initiative of PSBiH MPs also came from colleagues from countries in our region, North Macedonia, Serbia and Albania, as well as representatives of numerous other countries such as the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Turkey, Moldova and Switzerland.

"We can be satisfied with the understanding we encountered in meetings with colleagues from the parliaments of EU member states, which collectively represent the majority opinion of EU citizens. It is particularly important that MPs from EU countries recognised the mutual interest of the EU and Bosnia and Herzegovina when it comes to our country's European path, believing that a stable Europe requires a stable Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the entire Western Balkan region. Now it is important that the governments of EU countries also recognise what their legislative branch has recognised, namely that Bosnia and Herzegovina belongs in the EU," is the joint position of the members of the PSBiH delegation to PACE.

The initiative was signed by MPs from EU member states: Stefan SCHENNACH (Austria), Fourat BEN CHIKHA (Belgium), Andries GRYFFROY (Belgium), Nadejda IORDANOVA (Bulgaria), Ondřej BENEŠIK (Czech Republic), Petri HONKONEN (Finland), Claude KERN (France), Anna EFTHYMIOU (Greece), Davor Ivo STIER (Croatia), Domagoj HAJDUKOVIĆ (Croatia), Zdravka BUŠIĆ (Croatia), Marijana PETIR (Croatia), Valentina GRIPPO (Italy), Sandra ZAMPA (Italy), Piero FASSINO (Italy), Francesco VERDUCCI (Italy), Aurora FLORIDIA (Italy), Zsolt NÉMETH (Hungary), László TOROCZKAI (Hungary), Gala VELDHOEN (Netherlands), Carla MOONEN (Netherlands), Caspar van den BERG (Netherlands), Sjoerd WARMERDAM (Netherlands), Rian VOGELS (Netherlands), Frank SCHWABE (Germany), Axel SCHÄFER (Germany), Heike ENGELHARDT (Germany), Derya TÜRK-NACHBAUR (Germany), Fabian FUNKE (Germany), Max LUCKS (Germany), Paulo PISCO (Portugal), Edite ESTRELA (Portugal), Elena-Simona SPĂTARU (Romania), Denisa Elena NEAGU (Romania), Iulian BULAI (Romania), Nataša SUKIČ (Slovenia), Laura CASTEL (Spain), Pablo HISPÁN (Spain), Luz MARTINEZ SEIJO (Spain), Adnan DIBRANI (Sweden), Azadeh ROJHAN (Sweden), Mattias JONSSON (Sweden), Kristoffer LINDBERG (Sweden).

In addition to MPs from EU member state parliaments, colleagues were joined by MPs: Etilda GJONAJ (Albania), Bernadeta COMA (Andorra), Susanna VELA (Andorra), Erkin GADIRLI (Azerbaijan), Fazil MUSTAFA (Azerbaijan), Ion GROZA (Moldova), Béatrice FRESKO-ROLFO (Monaco), Gerardo GIOVAGNOLI (San Marino), Aleksandar NIKOLOSKI (North Macedonia), Dubravka FILIPOVSKI (Serbia), Biljana PANTIĆ PILJA (Serbia), Elvira KOVÁCS (Serbia), Dunja SIMONOVIĆ BRATIĆ (Serbia), Pierre-Alain FRIDEZ (Switzerland), Ada MARRA (Switzerland), Seda GÖREN BÖLÜK (Turkey), Murat Cahid CINGI (Turkey), Meryem GÖKA (Turkey), Mehmet AKALIN (Turkey), Yunus EMRE (Turkey), Namık TAN (Turkey), Tonia ANTONIAZZI (United Kingdom), Oleksii GONCHARENKO (Ukraine), Olena KHOMENKO (Ukraine).