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SARAJEVO, May 5 (FENA) - Speaker of the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly and HDZ BiH President Dragan Čović expects that Bosnia and Herzegovina's position on the European path will be strengthened at the upcoming EU-Western Balkans Zagreb Summit which will take place via videoconference.
“I will personally emphasize at the conference that we want to strengthen our position when it comes to European integration, since we have a deadlock that has been going on for several years. I will ask all EU representatives to grant BiH candidate status as soon as possible, in this year. The topic will also be the current economic situation in the region, and we in BiH certainly expect continued EU assistance, that is, a special place when it comes to accessing EU funds, although we do not yet have candidate status,” Čović told FENA.
He expects around 50 EU officials, member states, representatives of the European People's Party (EPP) and leaders from the region belonging to this political group to participate in this event via video link.
Čović says he regrets that there will likely be no unanimous position from BiH at this conference, as it negatively affects the EU accession process itself.
“If we continue to maintain rhetoric with a focus on divisions in BiH, I am afraid that the attitude of EU leaders towards us will be identical. It is unrealistic to expect that along with the current problems that the whole of Europe is facing due to the coronavirus pandemic, someone in the EU has an understanding for our divisions and conflicts,” Čović said.
Speaking about not attending yesterday's ad hoc EU working group meeting, Čović said it was unnecessary to form new bodies in addition to all those that already exist.
“Some see this ad hoc body as a compensation for our Coordination Mechanism, which has been established for many years and has worked hard. We now act as if we do not have this mechanism at all. All the conditions facing BiH today are solely related to the Council of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly. This joint action should be maintained, but not abused by usurped positions such as those in the BiH Presidency,” Čović points out.
According to him, a working group within the Council of Ministers, which has powers and tasks for the European path, is meeting on Thursday, and that action should be taken to remove obstacles to obtaining candidate status.
Although he says he is not surprised, Čović firmly rejects accusations that he is hindering BiH's European path by not attending the meeting of ad hoc group. He says that story is one of a series of efforts to divert public attention from real affairs and problems in BiH.
“Croat political representatives continue to be key leaders in Euro-Atlantic process. We will also use our position in both the Council of Ministers and the Parliament to fulfill the conditions for BiH to become a candidate. What we should not expect is to legalize the abuse that has taken place, which is that the Bosniak people elect two members of the BiH Presidency,” Čović concluded.
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