European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Sarajevo on Tuesday that BiH still has an opportunity to make serious progress on its path to membership in the European Union, but that everything still depends on how willing local politicians are to implement reforms.
Upon her arrival in BiH, the President of the European Commission visited the Srebrenica memorial center, which preserves the memory of more than eight thousand Bosniak men and boys killed in the genocide committed in 1995, and on the social network X, she said that she was deeply moved by meeting the mothers, widows and daughters of the victims, and that it is a shared duty to preserve memory and preserve the truth as a prerequisite for reconciliation.
"The European Union," she said, "will always remember the genocide in Srebrenica."
After that, she met separately in Sarajevo with the members of the BiH Presidency and the chairwoman of the Council of Ministers, Borjana Krišto, and then told the journalists that political leaders have a great responsibility to build the future on the truth.
She said that BiH has come a long and arduous path and is now "on the threshold of the EU", so that should continue, and when there is political will, as she pointed out, there are ways to make it happen.
"It is necessary to adopt reform laws and appoint a chief negotiator," Von der Leyen reminded of the current priorities for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
She said that enlargement is not only a matter of politics but also the will and voice of the people, and polls show that 72 percent of BiH citizens trust the EU, while two-thirds of Europeans support continued enlargement.
Von der Leyen was in BiH as part of a regional mini-tour after a visit to Montenegro, where she had mostly words of praise for the progress that country has made in its hopes of becoming a member of the Union by the end of 2028.
Unlike Montenegro, BiH has not moved a millimeter on its path to membership since March 2024, because from the moment the European Council conditionally approved the opening of accession negotiations, a new political crisis occurred, which put a brake on all reforms.
BiH has not appointed a chief negotiator to date
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, they have thus far failed to adopt the law on courts and the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) or to appoint a chief negotiator, which are key prerequisites for the formal start of negotiations, the duration of which is impossible to predict anyway.
Only a few hours before the deadline, the BiH Council of Ministers managed to agree on a reform program on September 30th, which was requested by the European Commission in order to grant the country access to a fund of around one billion euros in grants and soft loans from a six billion euro package secured through the Growth Plan for the six Western Balkan countries.
Von der Leyen announced that the Commission will review the submitted program, and the priority is the first intergovernmental conference.
Kristo said on Tuesday that she is doing everything in her power, so she prepared the decision on the appointment of the chief negotiator, but it cannot be adopted without the cooperation of others. As she announced, she will let the decision go through the procedure and expects that in this way it will be shown who is in favor of opening negotiations, and who is blocking it.
"Let everyone clearly say whether we want this process (of European integration)," said Krišto, who emphasized that BiH's place is in the EU, and everyone should say whether they are in favor of it.
She said that, despite the obstacles, she will not tire of implementing reforms, and that she is encouraged by the support of the European Commission.
She also confirmed that she had discussed amendments to the BiH electoral law with Von der Leyen. She said that this problem is greatly burdening relations in BiH, and that measures need to be taken to ensure legitimate political representation based on the rulings of the Constitutional Court of BiH and the European Court of Human Rights.
Kristo hopes that there will be enough goodwill for that, because it is the best way to ensure peace and stability in BiH.
Photo: EPA/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON
