The Commissioner for Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, called, on Monday 28 November, for Bosnians to continue their efforts on the country’s European agenda, just weeks before the European Council’s decision on 15-16 December on EU candidate status for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“The path to the EU is open, but it requires results from your country. We expect these measures to be taken without delay. It is now up to the political leaders of this country to make it a reality for the people of this country”, he stressed at a press conference with members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo. Mr Várhelyi warned that the granting of status was not “a fait accompli”.
According to Mr Varehlyi, for the European Council to grant candidate status, “it will be necessary for the outgoing EU Council of Ministers to adopt all outstanding measures to advance the EU’s agenda”.
“We need the Presidency to ensure that European integration and the 14 key priorities are at the centre of all governments’ agendas over the next 4 years”, he added.
The Commissioner said that the start of the political mandate was an opportunity to turn a page and accelerate work on these key priorities.
Welcoming the fact that all members of the Presidency were committed to this, Mr Várhelyi encouraged them to “intensify their efforts and create an environment of trust, constructive dialogue and good cooperation”.
Mr Varhelyi said that since the proposal to grant EU candidate status on 12 October (see EUROPE 13041/13), the country had already made progress.
For Denis Bećirović, Bosnian member of the Presidency, it is important to really focus on EU membership and that politicians fundamentally change their approach and that it was up to the country to adjust to European standards and not the other way around. “Most citizens would like to see full membership for the country”, Mr Bećirović recalled, adding that this was one of the strategic goals of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He also called for intensified efforts to ensure that accession happens “sooner rather than later”. For him, “investing in the European future of Bosnia and Herzegovina is a geostrategic investment”.
For her part, Željka Cvijanović, Serbian member of the Presidency, said that it was important to build a relationship with greater understanding and trust between her country and the EU. “We expect the EU to understand our specificities, our problems, our difficulties in our decision-making process”, she said, adding that her country, for its part, had to understand the obligations of EU membership. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)