The year is coming to an end, summing up what has been done, the European Commission has evaluated the performance of the countries aspiring to membership. The countries of the Western Balkans started optimistically in the first few months, and while most continued at the same pace, our country is stagnating. Several reform laws were adopted – and that was it. New announcements of economic aid from Brussels, and we did not even manage to secure the first tranche of the Growth Plan. The countries of the region cannot join the European Union without us, but they cannot wait either.
New Year’s gift from the European Commission
As a New Year’s gift, the European Commission announced a new 300 million euros for the Western Balkans. But only if we are diligent and do our homework. So far, all the countries of the region have successfully carried out the required reforms as a precondition for joining the European family, all except Bosnia and Herzegovina. For now, the European Commission is not in the spirit of punishment, so it has not eliminated our country from the new aid package either, he writes Federalna.ba.
“Due to the geopolitical situation, we will redouble our efforts to support countries that want to progress. It is not enough to just leave the doors of the European Union open, but we should actively work to bring new countries closer to the bloc,” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
Just because we’re on the plan doesn’t mean we’ll end up getting paid. Because we are the only ones without an agreed Reform Agenda and Growth Plan. The European Union is for enlargement, but work must be done. The whole year in Bosnia and Herzegovina passed in a sign – one step forward, two steps back, then stagnation. We can’t work if we don’t meet. Blackmail and punishment policy for now.
“The problem is that the European path of Bosnia and Herzegovina is still being stopped by some trivial party policies in order to create a situation of blackmail and to get something under the table, which, unfortunately, has been seen many times in Bosnia and Herzegovina so far,” he points out. Jasmin Emrić, NES representative in the House of Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Internal turmoil spills over into regional ones. Neighbors will not wait for Bosnia and Herzegovina to decide what they really want because they were specific in their wishes, which they proved with their actions. Especially Montenegro and Albania, which are leaders in the region towards the European Union. Although, according to new messages from Brussels, it will be a little more difficult for them to be part of this family, because due to the unstable geopolitical situation, they would like to integrate the Western Balkans as a whole.
“You know that at this moment, Montenegro is, to use that phrase, ‘the leader of European integration’ and we are really working. We subordinated our entire work to the idea of being the 28th member of the European Union in 2028. I know that in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it will perhaps be the most difficult in the entire region, but Montenegro is here to, especially focused on its inter-ethnic, inter-national harmony within the country, indicate with guidelines what should happen in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well”, he said. Jovan Subotić, representative in the Parliament of Montenegro and vice-president of the Committee for EU Integration.
“The Western Balkans is still an area with many old and new conflicts. The only perspective I see is to be members of the European Union, and we all know that in order to achieve that, we must face our past, conclude it and prepare ourselves and our countries for membership in a larger family that values freedom and democracy.” said Kreshnik Collaku, a representative in the Parliament of Albania.
We do the opposite
There is no democracy without respect for human rights. Systemic discrimination in the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been proven several times before the court in Strasbourg. Like the “Sejdić and Finci” verdict, which has been waiting for implementation for 15 years. A similar fate could befall Slaven Kovačević.
“We, among other things, supported our friends from Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding the need to preserve and uphold the Kovačević verdict. We’ll see how things stand there. Unfortunately, we have various influences there. If it were to be confirmed, then it would be a strong flywheel and support for the civil democratic concept of Bosnia and Herzegovina. society”, says Miodrag Vlahović, president of the Montenegrin Helsinki Committee.
Declaratively for the European Union, and on that path we are doing the opposite. More specifically for European laws and reforms, not really, but European money can. And he never leaves, he writes Focus.
