Brussels, 07/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek, speaking on Friday 4 November, called on all Bosnian political parties to work together to help the country make progress towards membership of the EU. “I urge Bosnia and Herzegovina to set aside internal quarrels and work instead towards a mutually beneficial future. This opportunity must be seized by all sides within the country”, he said during a visit to Sarajevo. He stated that “the gates of the EU are open, but it is up to the country to choose to enter”. He said that “things can change very quickly for the better” and that the first steps to be taken, whether implementation of the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights or the adoption of centralised state-aid law and the state-level census law, “cannot reasonably be met without the formation of a Council of Ministers”.
He called on Bosnia and Herzegovina to make swift progress towards accession, ahead of December's European Council. “I regret that, this year, Bosnia and Herzegovina has made only limited progress on its path towards the EU due to continued political stalemate. But there is still time for positive change ahead of the December European Council, which will give the final assessment of the country's achievements this year”, he said. He pointed out that the country had not put enough effort into tackling corruption and that the unemployment rate is standing at around 40%. He argued that the political and institutional stalemate have hindered the reforms needed for progress towards accession.
The European Commission follow-up report, published on 12 October, indicated that the overall pace of reform has been very slow, partly because of the political deadlock in the country, which has been without a government for more than a year.
Buzek travelled, on 5 November, to Srebrenica where he remembered the victims of the genocide. He said that reconciliation is one of Europe's fundamental values. (CG/transl.rt)