“The EU, together with our international partners, remains committed to seeing BiH advance towards EU membership,” Head of the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina/EUSR, Ambassador Peter Sorensen, stated in Sarajevo today following his meeting with the Irish Minister of State for European Affairs, Mr Paschal Donohoe TD.

“The official visit of the Irish Minister of State for European Affairs to Bosnia and Herzegovina today signifies the strong commitment of the 28 EU member states towards BiH. BiH is welcome in the European Union when the conditions for membership are met. The first one, implementation of the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights in the case ‘Sejdic and Finci vs Bosnia and Herzegovina’ is long overdue and should be done as soon as possible”, Ambassador Sorensen stated.

Ambassador Sorensen added that Ireland’s experience of EU membership is valuable for Bosnia and Herzegovina since the two countries are similar in size and population, which best illustrates the important benefits that EU membership could bring to a country like BiH.

EU membership has helped transform Ireland’s economy, from being one of the poorest countries in Europe when it joined in 1973 to being one of the world’s most open export economies, which Forbes magazine last year voted ‘best place in the world to do business’.

During his visit, Mr Donohoe will also visit BiH institutions, meet university students and fulfil media engagements.