Transcript

Peter Sorensen: “Well, thank you very much and it is very good to see you here. Good afternoon, and it is good to be back in Brcko, for the third time this year. And thanks to the mayor- the honour is entirely ours. We are very happy that the mayor and his associates agreed to accommodate us on this working visit that we are doing in Brcko today. It’s a regular working visit that we do in the entire country. Today it is Brcko. We are – all the EU representatives in the country- here and we will have meetings. We will visit the NGO society; we will visit the Youth Centre; we will visit the business community. As I said the last time I was here: Brcko is very important and the role it has in the European integration process and therefore we very much welcome the efforts that the government is doing in this respect. Reforming the public sector that is here; ensuring that an effective fight against corruption is present is what the inhabitants of Brcko want and deserve. In addition to that,  there is of course the handling of the very many EU rules, the so called acquis communitaire. We are here to assist- to find the way that Brcko can adopt them because Brcko needs to do so. That’s why we are particularly happy that we’ve been welcomed the way we are, and we look forward to the rest of the day in Brcko. “

Q1: Your comment on whether  Brcko is doing well on the EU integration issues and if there is no Sejdic Finci implementation  will the elections be recognised?

Peter Sorensen: “Let me take the last one first. The issue of Sejdic-Finci is important for Bosnia and Herzegovina itself. At some stage this has to be resolved. The only reason that for us there has been an urgency in doing it is that it is the will of the people living in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the majority of the political parties to eventually hand in an application for membership to the European Union. To do that in a way that it is credible, and not just an empty piece of paper, this needs to be resolved. And therefore, in order to be a credible applicant, you need to resolve the issue. As you want to be an applicant early, you do need to resolve the issue early. In addition to that, you of course have the problem that you are a member of the Council of Europe. Being a member of the Council of Europe you have to live up to certain standards. One of those standards is that you will adhere to whatever verdict is coming out of the European Court of Human Rights. By not adhering to the Court of Human Rights you have a problem with your membership because you do not live up to the standards and the requirements for being a member there. That’s for the Council of Europe to come up with how they will handle that. For the European Union, we just conclude, you are not living up to the standards that are a prerequisite for us to put our contractual relationship with you into place, namely the Stabilization and Association Agreement. And therefore you are not in a position to credibly apply for membership with us. That answers your question about whether we recognize the elections.

On the local issue: it is far too early this shortly after the government is formed to conclude anything. The reason why we are here this often, the reason why we have established an office here as the European Union, is that we want to be here to assist and follow the developments. In that context, what we’ve seen is a governance that is satisfying what we would expect but there is a long way to go until we would say Brcko lives up to all the conditions that it needs to live up to- to play its role in the European Integration process. But that’s why we are here; that is why we have an office; that’s why we have programmes. We are here to assist you in doing so”.

Q2:  Do you personally feel betrayed by politicians for not getting the deal on the Sejdic Finci and is the EU going to punish the citizens or politicians?  Do you expect HR Ashton to visit Sarajevo tomorrow?

Peter Sorensen: “Again the last question – first. I don’t know. We are not in a position to confirm what the travel plans are. As you know they are fluid. But as soon as they are confirmed we will be doing this publicly. There will be no secret about it.  As to your first question: this is not personal- this is business. But even as a business being business, of course I feel it as a lost opportunity not having seen an agreement being made. You have to get out of your old thinking. The question I’m posed the most is “Will you sanction us?” This is not ’95. This is not ’96. This is not ’97, ’98 and ’99. This is 2013. What we are talking about is Bosnia and Herzegovina being treated like a country and with all the obligation that comes with that. What you have on the table is an offer to become a full-fledged member once you live up to the conditions. You, your politicians decide when these conditions are met. Don’t ask us to substitute for your politicians. As you have seen we are prepared to help if that is necessary but ultimately it is Bosnia and Herzegovina as a sovereign state who decides if it wants to join the European Union. I know for some that it might be a sort of a change of paradigm, a change of structure. You expect me to sanction you to join me- but that’s not how we work. You sanction yourself by not joining. Your neighbours are all on a good way to joining, and if things go into the right direction, in a very near future you will be surrounded by countries whose European path is progressing forward and ahead of you. This is not in you interest; it is not our interest but that’s how it is.  We are ready as you’ve seen in the last three months, we are ready to help, we are ready to assist, we are ready to be a partner with you, but your politicians need to do their homework.