Zvizdić and Čović in Brussels: Expectations for BiH to gain candidate status this year

BRUSSELS, (Patria) - Chairman of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PSBiH) Denis Zvizdić and Chairman of the House of Peoples of PSBiH Dragan Čović participated in Brussels in a meeting of the Working Group of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs for the Western Balkans.

Addressing the attendees, Chairman Zvizdić said that Euro-Atlantic integration and regional stability have no alternative for BiH, and that these, along with further democratization of society, infrastructure and knowledge-based society development, as well as strengthening the rule of law, are key conditions for democratic and economic development that should ensure a better standard of living and a peaceful and dignified life for our citizens.

“BiH is not a large country – it has 3.5 million inhabitants, but last year alone we had over 1.7 million tourists, in the last four years we had GDP growth of over 3.2 percent, tens of thousands of jobs have been opened, we were leaders in exports in our region, and among the ten most important foreign trade partners, seven are members of the European Union (EU). Economic processes have positive trends, but that is not enough, we have reached certain limits and now, more than ever, we need encouragement from our friends to maintain positive momentum – I remind you that over 70 percent of BiH citizens are still committed to the EU – because we in BiH are aware that European integration is the only and most effective instrument for strengthening political stability, for accepting European values and a key incentive for economic prosperity. We in BiH do not want any so-called 'privileged partnership' with the EU, nor any regional initiative that would be a substitute for BiH's EU integration – we in BiH exclusively want full membership in the EU.

We have worked very hard on achieving this goal in recent years, and we have made progress that should result in obtaining candidate status,” said Chairman Zvizdić in his address to the Working Group of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs for the Western Balkans.

During his address to the officials, Dragan Čović emphasized that Bosnia and Herzegovina must make a breakthrough in the area of European integration for which there is no alternative. In the past year and a half, he stressed, Bosnia and Herzegovina was preoccupied with internal problems and challenges such as the establishment of government and legislative bodies. However, as he said, that period is over and the new dynamic of work should lead to intensive changes in order to face what lies ahead, including the Election Law. Mentioning court decisions in BiH and Strasbourg, Čović said that the Election Law must be amended in accordance with those decisions, that the finalization of amendments is expected by the end of March this year, and that the issue of elections in the City of Mostar must also be resolved. Divisions and disagreements must be put aside, Čović emphasized.

Economic and political security in BiH must be ensured, Čović emphasized, and expressed his expectation that Bosnia and Herzegovina will receive candidate status this year in order to gain additional momentum. Representatives of parliaments from the Western Balkan region also addressed the attendees, speaking about the perspective of membership and regional consolidation, along with analyses of the situation in candidate and potential candidate countries. After the introductory speeches, a formal discussion followed with the present Members of the European Parliament, led by the European Parliament's rapporteur for the Western Balkans and representative of the Republic of Croatia, Tonino Picula.