The completion of constitutional reform by the end of this year would be a better qualification for the abolition of visa restrictions and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s bid for EU membership than meeting any formal requirements, the BiH ambassador to the OSCE and former head of the BiH team for negotiations with the European Union Igor Davidović said in an interview for the website www.reci.ba.

Technical reasons cannot be an excuse for what has not been achieved due to internal political reasons. Davidović warned that this is a reflection of the “lack of vision” amongst politicians and political parties in BiH, motivated primarily by their political interests. “I have never approved of stalling, excessive use of tactics and politicization, as well as making a problem out of everything that realistically is not and should not be a problem, nor will I approve of it in the future.”

Failure to fulfil conditions for the abolition of visas could cause “yet another division in a country that has been fed up for a long time with various divisions”, Davidović warned. “It is not difficult to envisage what will happen if the countries from our immediate neighbourhood are granted a visa-free regime, or considerable visa facilitation, while BiH does not get the same treatment. Some ethnic groups have the option of obtaining a passport of another country, while those categories of population that do not have such an option will continue to have their rights denied in that regard.”

Speaking of his experience as the main BiH negotiator with the European Union, Davidović emphasized that negotiations with the EU – from the association process to acquiring the status of a full member – are a very demanding and lengthy process requiring a concentrated action of domestic authorities, the population and the institutions of the European Union. He pointed out that the European concept of integration was “equally good, necessary and acceptable to all”, and that this momentum of wholehearted support for BiH’s European integration, both in Brussels and among BiH citizens, should be seized. “I am often surprised by the degree of support for our accession to the European Union. We should not neglect such a positive climate, and in particular we should not devalue it and miss it,” Davidović concluded.

The full interview is available on www.reci.ba.