prijava
DOHA/SARAJEVO, February 21 (FENA) - The future of Bosnia and Herzegovina lies with the European Union and NATO, said Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH Denis Zvizdić in his interview for Al Jazeera.
During an official visit of BiH delegation to Qatar, Zvizdić said his country is implementing political and economic reforms, including fighting corruption, in its efforts to speed up its integration process into the EU and NATO.
He sees that as a path for economic prosperity, political stability and security for the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Zvizdić said he brought with him several economic and investment projects to Qatar worth more than $2bn. He said such projects would help Bosnia create more jobs for its citizens and enhance trade and investment opportunities between his country and the Arab world at large.
“Bosnia has excellent relations with Qatar that goes back 25 years. We consider Qatar as a true friend of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The key goal of this visit is to present the economic potential of Bosnia and attract Qatari investments, which would benefit both countries. While the main foreign policy objective of Bosnia is to join the European Union, this does not mean that we should not reach out to the Middle East and the Arab world for better economic opportunities.
The Arab world is currently investing in the Bosnian economy in areas like manufacturing, construction, transportations and the food sector. Overall, we want to have ties with both the West and the East,” said Zvizdić.
With regard to the European integration, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH said that the process has accelerated in the last three years.
“Bosnia Herzegovina is a decidedly European country in terms of its outlook, culture, history and geography. In the last three years both EU and NATO integration process has been speeding up. According to the latest surveys, 78 percent of the people of Bosnia are in favor of joining the EU.
By the end of this year, we expect the activation of NATO action plan and achieve a candidate state status with the EU. There is no doubt in our mind that we will for sure become an EU member. It is a matter of time.
There is no plan B, we only have plan A. Our future is fully connected with the EU and the United States. The EU is our strongest trade partners especially Germany. However, there is no reason not to have good relations with other countries like Russia and Turkey,” stressed Zvizdić.
Given that the foreign policy orientation is tied to the EU and the United States, asked about potential Russia meddling in internal politics in an effort to derail BiH’s membership in either the EU or NATO, Zvizdić said that there are certain attempts by Russia to influence policies in the western Balkans.
“The shifting of the western Balkans toward NATO is actually aggravating Russia. We want to have good economic ties with Russia. However, we see our future as part of the EU,” said Zvizdić.
Speaking of BiH as a multi-national federation state, and whether integration and membership in the EU would solve BiH's thorniest problems, such as its complex political system that was created along national and ethnic lines in the aftermath of the bloody war during the '90s, and its economic instability, Zvizdić said that when the countries in the Balkans become members of the EU, two key issues will be resolved.
This, considering that countries like Greece, for example, suffers from deep economic instability despite being an EU member.
“One - it will accomplish security and stability by resolving the issues related to the borders in the western Balkans. The EU commission has emphasized that the six countries in the western Balkans, BiH, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia Montenegro and Kosovo must resolve their border disputes before ascending to full EU membership.
When the border issues are resolved, it will halt any ideas or attempts by any party to change it, and thus it will bring political stability and security.
Two - the EU and NATO membership will result in economic prosperity. Greece suffers economic problems because it did not implement the recommended EU economic measures that would have helped it out of its economic slump. But take for example countries like Romania, Bulgaria and Slovenia which are good examples of East European countries that followed the EU measures and standards and that despite the initial painful impact on the population, it ended up better off and more prosperous in the long run,” said the CoM Chairman Zvizdić.
Asked about the general elections in BiH to take place this October, whether he is planning to run for president and whether this explains the rise of nationalistic rhetoric from the different national groups in the country, Zvizdić said maybe.
“I might run for president, we will see what happens when the time comes,” he said.
Since its election season, it is not unusual to see the rise of rhetoric from all groups. This has become typical in Bosnian electoral politics. However, once the election is over, the rhetoric subsides and a political balance and a return to reality take hold, he added.
Zvizdić dismissed the claims that countries in the region have seemingly moved on and became better off in comparison to BiH.
“I disagree with the assessment that other Balkan countries are better off than BiH in that respect. Our region has lived through communism and authoritarian regimes for too long. The transition to democracy takes time and it requires a change in thinking, culture and values.
The principles of democracy and free market economy must be accepted by our region. Gradually, however, we are heading in that direction,” concluded Zvizdić.
(FENA) S. R.
