by Nedeljka Breberina

How come the European Commission does not have a mechanism to make politicians in BiH reach an agreement?

That mechanism in fact exists, and that is to bring politicians to a conclusion whether BiH wants or does not want to progress on the road of European integration. What we are doing is helping politicians sit down and adopt decisions that parliaments in BiH and organizations of civil society have to implement.

How long will the European Commission have the patience to wait for an agreement of politicians in BiH?

From day one, when we arrived here, we never said you have to something by that date, instead we said it would be good if you do it by that date, because after that you can do other things to progress to the EU. We only point at why certain things have to be done now, and what the effects will be, as well as consequences if is not done.

If politicians fail to reach an agreement by the time elections are called, will their legitimacy and recognition be brought into question by the EU?

That is what we always stress. This is in fact about meeting international obligations. Here, we have the elections that are not first of that kind, and more you drag this, their violation will be harder. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a democratic country with democratic tradition and it would be a huge step backwards if you would find yourself in a situation in which elections could not take place because you did not implement the ruling and harmonize the Constitution.

How farther or how closer are politicians from a final agreement?

When I compare the situation, when I came here in 2011, when there were not even discussions about some issues, today we are a lot closer. However, whether this will end in resolving of this issue – I cannot say.

Meaning, they are far away from an agreement?

It would be unfair from me to say that. It would be unfair not to admit that seven leaders are sitting down together. They sit down and talk in a way people cannot even imagine. But whether they come to a solution, we shall see.

Why the EU has never activated sanctions against BiH politicians, like the travel ban to the EU countries and freezing their assets, which it adopted three years ago?

Those measures exist as response to endangering of territorial integrity and constitutional order of BiH. With all due respect to all difficulties we are facing and political challenges before us, none of the current difficulties is of the nature to implement the measures.

What is the position of the EU about ‘South Stream’ through BiH, about the fact it could become a new political problem in BiH?

We do not know what the project is related to or what the agreement between the entity governments is, which is why it is difficult for us to talk about it. However I can say that some member countries are also involved in the project and they authorized the European Commission to negotiate on their behalf, because there are certain rules from the European legal heritage that countries that aspire towards the EU also have to abide by.