The President of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zoran Tegeltija, said on Tuesday 13 July that his country should soon be able to obtain the status of candidate for membership of the European Union.
“We believe that we have achieved a lot especially in 2020, and in 2021 we are prepared to adopt enough credible measures to allow [Bosnia and Herzegovina] to gain candidate status”, he said at the end of the Stabilisation and Association Council between the EU and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the first in 3 years.
According to the President of the Council of Ministers, obtaining this status would be a positive signal to the population that the EU is with them, while the region feels forgotten by the EU.
He also felt that his country had faced more conditions than other countries in the region to obtain candidate status, which the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, denied.
The latter was more cautious: Bosnia and Herzegovina must fulfil 14 key priorities before its application to become a candidate country can be considered.
The High Representative underlined the EU’s “unequivocal” commitment to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s European perspective “as a single, united, and sovereign country” and the EU’s commitment to stand firmly by its side. According to him, the European Commission is ready to keep its promises to the country, provided that it delivers concrete results in the achievement of key priorities, “including on candidate status”.
Mr Borrell encouraged the Western Balkan country to use the remaining months of 2021—a non-election year—to push ahead with reforms. “We expect Bosnia and Herzegovina to use the coming months to demonstrate that it is serious about European integration”, he said.
The High Representative highlighted electoral, judicial, and constitutional reforms. In this regard, Mr Tegeltija announced that his country was preparing to adopt a new electoral reform, which would allow all Bosnian citizens to stand for election and vote. Although this process will take time, the 2022 elections will be “free and democratic”, he assured.
A few days after the commemoration of the victims of the Srebrenica genocide, Mr Borrell recalled that any attempt to reinvent history or glorify war criminals must stop and must not be tolerated in Europe. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)