Mr President of the European Movement,
Ministers,
Your Excellencies,
Mayors,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
European Friends,
It is a pleasure to be together with you in Prnjavor to mark Europe Day, May 9th.
Since our first celebration of Europe Day in 1985, 9 May has become an opportunity for European citizens to mark a belonging to Europe and European values.
We can indeed say that the European Union has made achievements in the promotion of peace, democracy and prosperity. Today 500 million people live in an area in which they can travel and trade freely, live securely and make choices about their lives.
And that is what we want for Bosnia and Herzegovina as well!
The vast majority of people in this country have made crystal clear what they want – they want membership of the European Union. They want a country that works, a country governed by the rule of law, a country that allows its citizens to live from their work and to live in dignity.
The European Union takes these aspirations seriously and we are your partners in making them into reality. To take one example, 660 million Euro were allocated to Bosnia and Herzegovina through the Instrument of Pre-accession (IPA) for the years 2007 – 2013.
I am particularly pleased that Prnjavor participated in our project for strengthening public financial management; and also received equipment for the secondary school here. I hope we shall continue working together for the benefit of citizens here, and in the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In conclusion I would like to emphasise that everyone in society can and must contribute to driving reform and implementing European standards, especially non-governmental organisations.
European Union integration is clearly not a job for politicians alone. The voices of everyone in society – NGOs, associations, interest groups, individual citizens – must be heard loud and clear and we encourage you to speak up in whatever way you can.
Therefore, the European Union stands ready to work with all civil society organizations and all activists who want to take effective steps to promote the European integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Therefore, we are here today, therefore I like the event motto “Vrijeme za Evropu” (“Time for Europe”) very much. Thank you for your attention, for hosting us here today and for being with us.
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