The interview was originally published in the daily Dnevni list on 8 May 2015

1. B&H got a fragile government six months after the elections and politicians signed “written commitments” just like couple of times before. B&H is in desperate need of movement of any sort, but is it too optimistic to call these developments “progress”, after nearly ten years of complete political deadlock?

It is the new spirit that was clearly needed. The EU welcomed last February’s Written Commitment and responded by putting the Stabilisation and Association Agreement into force.

But the time has now come to do reforms. This is what Bosnia and Herzegovina citizens expect. In consultation with the EU and the International Financial Institutions, an initial agenda for reforms should be urgently developed by your governments, in line with the EU legislation (the EU acquis). This reform agenda should include reforms under the Copenhagen criteria – socio-economic reforms including the Compact for Growth and Jobs, rule of law, good governance – and also agreed functionality issues, including the coordination mechanism on EU matters.

Time is of essence, but not because the EU can ‘no longer wait’ for Bosnia and Herzegovina to join. Time is of essence because more than 60% of young people here have no jobs! Hundreds of thousands of BiH citizens are unemployed! A better life for everyone in Bosnia and Herzegovina should be sufficient incentive for reforms.

2. B&H has fourteen different governments. Every third employed person works in the public administration, while 40% of the population does not work at all. We have “Sejdić-Finci” case, segregated schools… as well. Can B&H join the EU (or NATO) with its current constitution? Would the EU (and NATO) compromise their own internal cohesion and effectiveness by allowing the country to join before major constitutional reforms are enacted?

Bosnia and Herzegovina will join the EU when it is ready for it, just as it is the case for other accession countries. The whole point of the accession process is to prepare countries to become fully fledged member of the European family. This brings benefits but also responsibilities to contribute to our common European project.

On the constitutional level, as for any EU-aspiring country, it will be for its institutions, in line with the relevant procedures, to make any changes if this will be required to meet the conditions for EU-membership which are the same for everybody. The EU accession process is a transformative process where the country and its institutions decide on how best they will comply with the common norms and rules arising from its EU membership.

3. We have had Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In B&H we have men like president of Republic of Srpska (RS) Milorad Dodik who now conspire openly with “Europe’s enemies” and who threatens with referendum on independent RS. The HDZ has transformed its Herzegovina electoral heartland into a “para-state” within BiH and wants to form so-called “third entity of Herzeg-Bosna, while the SDA has spent more than two decades plundering whatever public coffers it could get its hands on. Do you believe that political leaders do want EU (or NATO) membership?

As you say, the Written Commitment on EU integration secured everyone’s public support. It was signed by all elected political leaders of this country and endorsed by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Parliament. Now we all need to see concrete steps being taken. The EU has taken the first one by putting the SAA into force as of next 1 June 2015. We have also started to consult the country’s institutions on the content of the initial agenda for reform and my visit to Sarajevo this 8 May is dedicated to that.

All the surveys coming out of Bosnia and Herzegovina show a strong level of support from citizens for joining the EU – always over 70% at least – and I would expect politicians to deliver on what their citizens want and expect. I believe that people in BiH are fully aware that the EU, with 500 million citizens is one of the largest markets in the world. More than 70% of BiH exports go to the EU. One thousand kilometres of your border is with the EU and all your other neighbours are progressing on their European integration path. There is no reason for Bosnia and Herzegovina to lag behind them.

4. Do you thing that Belgrade and Zagreb remain obstacles and not allies to B&H’s Euro-Atlantic integration. How do you comment the fact that leading Serbian politicians – Prime Minister Vučić and President Nikolić – and Ortodox church leader Irinej call the Republic of Srpska “other Serb state across the Drina River”? How do you comment the fact that Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović has made clear its intention to “defend the interests of the Croat community in BiH” and supports the official politics of HDZ BiH?

I follow the statements of leaders of countries in this region very closely. High officials of both countries have underlined their respect for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s sovereignty and independence on a number of occasions and I welcome this. For instance, Prime Minister Vucic’s first visit abroad after taking office was to visit Sarajevo.

Political parties across Europe co-operate with each other, this is normal – look at the composition of the European Parliament. Of course, such co-operation should be constructive and aim at effectively supporting the country addressing its priorities on the EU accession path.

When the Foreign Ministers met in Luxembourg at the initiative of Croatia for a working breakfast dedicated to Bosnia and Herzegovina last 21 April, the title of the meeting was ‘Friends of Bosnia and Herzegovina’ – this speaks for itself.

5. Politicians in B&H like to compare our country with Switzerland and Belgium. But, they don’t show the principle of ministerial responsibility or genuine democratic accountability like ministers in those countries. The electoral system is unduly skewed towards ethno-nationalist parties. Does “Brussels” have any idea how to support civic sector in B&H or reforms of the B&H institution and political parties?

Citizens must have a greater stake in the public life of Bosnia and Herzegovina and in EU integration specifically. Through initiatives such as the Progress Report itself the EU does its part to open the door to civic participation. You will recall that we have also included representatives of civil society organisations in the work of Structured Dialogue on Justice and Additional Rule of Law Matters.

Civil society will be an important part of taking the initial reform agenda forward – as required in the EU Council Conclusions of December 2014. The EU is funding a number of projects that encourage both the activism of civil society and the readiness of institutions for co-operation. What we see from previous enlargement countries is that citizens and civil society first and foremost must claim a role for themselves and be a factor in the debate.  

Political parties of course must account for themselves, and we maintain a regular impartial dialogue with the parties on a wide variety of issues, particularly at the local level, through our EU Delegation/EUSR. This includes the recent debates held with younger members of all parties on the recommendations of the Compact for Growth and Jobs. It is this sort of issues-focused dialogue that I believe helps the political scene to develop in the country.

http://dnevni-list.ba/web1/eu-moze-cekati-vase-politicare-stotine-tisuca-nezaposlenih-ne-mogu/