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BRUSSELS, 16 November (FENA) - The European People's Party (EPP) Western Balkans Coordinator and a member of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee Andrey Kovatchev says the European institution is concerned about the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"On the one hand we hear that the member of the Presidency of BiH Milorad Dodik is trying to discontinue the activities of entity of Republika Srpska in the institutions at the level of the state of BiH, in which it participates together with the Federation of BiH, and on the other, we have the situation with the Croat people and their dissatisfaction not being able to elect their member in the Presidency of BiH. This should change with a reform of the election law, which would allow Croats to elect their own representative in the state presidency," Kovatchev told FENA
He points out that at the moment there is no concrete information on potential sanctions against Dodik, but that the European Parliament will certainly monitor his further steps.
"I expect that it will not go in the direction of complete secession of the RS. All the provocations that we could see with the moves to separate the army, the judiciary and the severance of all relations with the institutions in Sarajevo is something that is very worrying," points out the Bulgarian MEP.
Speaking about the process of the Western Balkans' accession to the European Union, Kovatchev warned that it is a two-way street, which means that candidate countries must be ready, but that EU member states must also be ready for that process.
"There are some feelings in certain countries such as France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, but also in Germany, which oppose further expansion. Therefore, it is the duty of politicians in these countries to explain to people that it is much better for us all to be together, that it will bring more security.
We cannot allow ourselves to have a ‘black hole’ in our neighborhood where space is left open for the spreading of influence of third countries such as China, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others.
It is in our European interest to integrate as soon as possible and to involve all the countries of the Western Balkans and to overcome the problems, the legacy of the past, of the former Yugoslavia, or of the communist dictatorship in Albania. It is much better to have a European democracy than to live in the past or side with the Russian autocratic regime," Kovatchev concluded in an interview with FENA.
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(FENA) S. R.
