The European Council’s decision to grant the status of candidate country to Bosnia and Herzegovina is a significant one-off incentive, Romeo Franz and Paulo Rangel point out.
Following yesterday’s meeting of the European Council Romeo Franz(Greens/EFA, Germany), Chair of the European Parliament Delegation for relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, and Paulo Rangel(EPP, Portugal), Standing Rapporteur for Bosnia and Herzegovina, issued the following statement:
“We welcome the decision of the European Council to grant the status of candidate country to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the granting of candidate country status to Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova in June 2022 have triggered calls to accelerate the EU integration process of the Western Balkans. In the current geopolitical context yesterday’s decision should be seen as a ‘renewal of vows’ by the European Union and an important message to the country and to third actors that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s future is unequivocally within the EU.
Against the background of insufficient progress achieved by Bosnia and Herzegovina’s political actors, this decision is a clear sign of the EU’s commitment to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s citizens. It is also a significant one-off incentive that should be swiftly acted on by Bosnia and Herzegovina’s authorities. Tangible delivery on the 14 key priorities and the eight requirements identified in the Commission’s recommendation of October 2022 to the benefit of all citizens is urgently needed. The only way forward for Bosnia and Herzegovina is that its politicians move beyond narrow political party interests and divisive politics and genuinely work towards consensus-driven, inclusive EU integration reforms.
Regular inter-parliamentary meetings between the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina are firmly anchored in the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. As soon as the new Bosnia and Herzegovina Delegation to the Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee (SAPC) is constituted, we count on our counterparts to proactively reach out with a view to holding the 3rd EU-Bosnia and Herzegovina SAPC meeting in Sarajevo, thus making concrete progress on key priority number three.”
Source – EU Parliament
Slovenian PM Golob: This is a message to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina that their future lies in our common European house
Brussels, 15 December 2022
Today’s agreement by the leaders of the EU member states on granting the EU candidate status to Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the most important geostrategic and political decisions made by the EU in the recent period.
The enlargement process is a tool that we in Slovenia are very much aware of and appreciate, as we are a relatively new EU member state. For us, the enlargement process meant hope for a better future. That’s why we believe that with today’s decision we are also giving hope to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, just as we gave hope to the people of Ukraine and Moldova a few months ago.
The decision of the European Council is based on the initiative of the Slovenian Prime Minister presented at the leaders’ meeting in June this year. In recent months, we have worked hard to reach the necessary consensus among the EU member states, which we have crowned with today’s decision. It is a great Slovenian success. At the same time, it is the success of the entire EU. Member States unanimously supported the granting of candidate status and unanimously confirmed the importance that the EU attaches to the future of the Western Balkans region.
With today’s decision, we have shown that we understand the challenges facing Bosnia and Herzegovina and the entire Western Balkans. The granting of candidate status is a much needed signal to third countries, whose malign influence has increased over the years, that we will not allow their negative policies and narratives to prevail in the Western Balkans. We are once again establishing ourselves as a leading political actor in the region.
This is a message to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina that their future lies in our common European house. It gives us great satisfaction and pleasure that we will together build the future of the entire Europe.
Press release is available on Government website.