SARAJEVO, JUNE 6 (ONASA-Hina) – The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, told the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the highest elected officials of that country that she has “high expectations” from them, that is, she insists on the implementation of the reforms that they committed themselves to when BiH received the status of a candidate for EU membership at the end of 2022.
Von der Leyen, in a letter addressed to Denis Bećirović, a member of the BiH Presidency, whose content was published by local media on Tuesday, reminded that the implementation of the reform priorities defined in 2019 is still a task that the Commission insists on and will continue to do so in the future.
“The Commission will engage in political dialogue with the new authorities on the framework for a high-level political forum to monitor the implementation of the 14 key priorities and report on further progress,” the letter said.
Von der Leyen told Bećirović that she is counting on the full cooperation of the BiH Presidency, but she pointed out that the primary responsibility now lies with the Council of Ministers of BiH because it needs to take measures to start implementing the reforms. She added that the EU appreciates the joining of Bosnia and Herzegovina in condemning the Russian aggression against Ukraine and expects that such an approach by Sarajevo will continue.
Alignment of BiH’s foreign policy with that of the EU is also a prerequisite for the country’s further progress on the way to full membership, but this is openly obstructed by the authorities of the Republika Srpska, whose representatives in government bodies at the state level refuse to support joining any sanctions against Russia. The president of that entity, Milorad Dodik, does not hide his close ties with Russian leaders, including Vladimir Putin.
The European Commission previously called on the new authorities in BiH to prove their commitment to EU membership by quickly adopting the law on conflicts of interest at the state level, that is, by amending the law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC). This has not happened yet, but Edin Dilberović, director of the Directorate for European Integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina, claims that there is still progress, that is, that five of the 14 priorities have been “unblocked”.
At the same time, in a statement for “Dnevni avaz”, he listed the establishment of cooperation with EUROJUST, which he considers a step forward in the fight against organized crime, as well as the adoption of a strategy governing that area. He also considers it important to adopt an action plan for the implementation of the strategy in the field of migration and asylum until 2025, and to establish a contact point for cooperation with EUROPOL. For him, it is also an achievement that the draft law on free access to information was adopted and that the program for integrating BiH into the EU is in progress.
“It is important that concrete steps be taken by autumn, because we expect that then the Commission will publish a new report on Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which it will pay special attention to the progress in the implementation of 14 key priorities,” Dilberović said.