prijava
SARAJEVO, October 12 (FENA) - Network of Progressive Initiatives, the Pan-European Union of BiH and Konrad Adenauer Foundation gathered political and representatives of the non-governmental sector as well as the international community at a meeting conceived as a concrete discussion on 14 key priorities, important for BiH’s membership in the European Union.
Director of the Directorate for European Integration of BiH Edin Dilberović, in a press statement after the meeting, explains that the process was not easy for any country to become a member of the EU nor was it generally ready for full membership until it implemented reforms that can be painful for both politicians and the population.
“In general, these reforms lead to a better life. Whether the process will take longer or slower for us, depends of course on us. BiH is a country where decisions are made more slowly than in other countries, the way decisions are made is complicated. But we sincerely hope that, when things are resolved, especially with these 14 priorities, we will eventually be left with real problems that will need strong and true political will. We will try to solve other simpler things as quickly as possible,” he said.
As he reminds, in the following period, the progress of BiH will be assessed, in the context of 14 priorities. The European Commission will assess whether that progress is enough to potentially obtain candidate status.
"According to the latest assessments from Brussels, if we continue at this pace, we could expect candidate status next year. Fourteen priorities have nothing to do with candidate status, they have to do with BiH's membership in the European Union. If we implement 14 priorities or if the European Commission assesses that they are being implemented in the right direction, we are moving towards opening a chapter. It is a higher status than what we call candidate status. They are exclusively related to the opening of negotiations, as a future activity or future full membership," he said.
President of the Pan-European Union of BiH, Osman Topčagić, is optimistic and says that it would mean a lot for BiH to get candidate status, and reforms should continue. This is one phase in the whole process, before the opening of negotiations, and it would mean a lot to us.
Negotiations would be opened later, by chapters, according to the new EU methodology. It would give a positive message of optimism in our reality, which we need in the EU Delegation to BiH. In today's speech, Krasimir Nikolov referred to the latest report on BiH's progress, developments and shortcomings. He pointed out the speed of reforms, especially in the area of the rule of law, and recommended continuous and serious work on reforms.
Today's gathering, officially titled 'Concrete Conversation: 14 EU Priorities – from words to action', was announced as the first in a series of planned topics on specific topics, with the participation of representatives of various political options in BiH.
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