Head of the European Commission’s Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, H.E. Ambassador Dimitris Kourkoulas presented set of new initiatives adopted by the European Commission at the press-conference held on 5th March 2008 in Sarajevo. The main goal of these initiatives is to provide additional support for the political and economic development in the Western Balkan countries, thus helping them to accelerate their progress on the road towards EU membership.
Explaining that it is in the interest of the EU and of Europe, as a whole is to see that the Western Balkans region should go ahead with political and economic reform, reconciliation among peoples and progress towards the EU, Ambassador Kourkoulas stressed the areas in which the Commission would grant additional financial assistance.
Visa-free travel
In order to establish a visa-free travel regime with EU countries, the adoption of these initiatives will lead to establishment of the Road Map with very concrete conditions needed to be met by every single country of the Western Balkans. In this regard, Ambassador Kourkoulas pointed out: “Visa liberation will depend on each country’s progress in fulfilling these conditions”.
Scholarships
The new EC initiative will further increase the number of scholarships granted to students from the Western Balkans to study in the EU, including Bosnia and Herzegovina. Current yearly amount for scholarships amounts to 10 M€ and Ambassador Kourkoulas informed that the EC intention is to double this amount for years 2009 and 2010.
Community Programmes
More Community programmes and agencies are open to the Western Balkans countries including BiH. Additional support for Community Programmes will result in enhancement of cooperation in the areas of science, research and education. However, Ambassador Kourkoulas expressed his regret that BiH, unlike other countries in the region, is not yet part of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). This Programme is designed to provide an opportunity for a wide range of participants: from universities, through public authorities, to small and medium enterprises and researchers in developing countries working in the areas of science, research and education.
Civil Society
A broad range of civil society organisations already receive EU support, in particular in the areas of inter-ethnic relations, poverty reduction, environmental protection and social development, said Ambassador Kourkoulas and explained that the new civil society facility would focus on financial support for journalists, young politicians, professors, trade union leaders and others to participate in different EU programs, local initiatives and capacity building initiatives aimed at strengthening partnerships between civil society organisation in BiH and counterparts in EU.
Regional Cooperation
Ambasador Kourkoulas pointed out that the EU strongly supports regional cooperation, underlining the importance of the role of Regional Cooperation Council with its Secretariat in Sarajevo. Furthermore, Ambassador Kourkoulas once again reminded on the importance of CEFTA in developing regional trade relations as a preparation for entrance on both internal market of EU and membership to WTO.
Cooperation on disaster prevention, preparedness and response
The vast forest fires in the summer 2007 highlighted the importance of preparedness and well-coordinated cross-border action in case of disasters in the region. The countries of the Western Balkans need to build up their capacity and to enhance regional cooperation in the field of civil protection and disaster prevention.
The Disaster Risk Reduction Initiative, financed by €2 million yearly through the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA), will support capacity building of the Western Balkan countries as well as data collection, processing and sharing and the preparation of a regional strategy
Expressing his hope that Bosnia and Herzegovina will benefit from all these newly adopted and enhanced existing initiatives, Ambassador Kourkoulas reminded that all this would be possible only if BiH demonstrates a more pro-active role in European integration process. Ambassador Kourkoulas concluded that „political message of the adopted decisions is that Europe reinforces its commitment towards European path of the Western Balkans countries – the Strategy is there, the Road Map is known, now it is up to each country to help us to help you.“
Allocation of 800 M€ per year for the period 2007 – 2011 for Western Balkans countries is highest amount per capita provided by EU to any region in the world. In this period about 440M€ is envisaged for BiH’s financial assistance.
Proposals adopted by the Commission on 5th March 2008 will be presented to the EU member states at the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Slovenia scheduled to take place on 28th – 29th March.
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