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SARAJEVO, October 3 (FENA) - Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Šefik Džaferović supported the idea of setting a time frame for Bosnia and Herzegovina and other Western Balkan countries to join the European Union.
The European Union should expand to the entire Western Balkans by the end of the decade is the proposal of the bloc's presidency, which astonished member states ahead of the summit in Brdo near Kranj "EU and Western Balkans" which is planned for the next week.
The idea of accelerating the accession of the Western Balkan countries, including Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, was first mentioned in Slovenia ahead of a meeting of European Union leaders to discuss the enlargement of the Union, which now consists of 27 countries, the Financial Times reported earlier.
As Džaferović said, despite certain dilemmas when it comes to EU enlargement in the past period, it is clear that awareness of the importance of enlargement is maturing in the EU itself.
“It has been clear for a long time that the Western Balkans needs the EU, but within the EU it is becoming clear that the European Union also needs the Western Balkans. I had the opportunity to see it at the Bled Strategic Forum. I expect that this awareness will continue to mature at the upcoming summit in Brdo near Kranj,” Džaferović added.
The issue of EU enlargement to the countries of the Western Balkans is primarily a geostrategic issue, he noted, and not an administrative issue, and that is how it should be viewed.
He expressed confidence that setting a timeframe for accession would inspire optimism and new synergies, and give a wind in the back to pro-European forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region.
(FENA) A. B.
