“How far is Bosnia and Herzegovina from the European Union, who is obstructing its path, and can BiH fulfill the 14 priorities set by Europe as a condition for opening the negotiation process? This will be discussed tomorrow in Brussels at the Second High-Level Political Forum between the European Union and BiH.
Political leaders from the ruling political parties at the level of BiH, delegations of the Council of Ministers, and the governments of Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH have traveled to Brussels.
With foreigners, BiH cannot enter the EU. Representatives from Republika Srpska will present this stance to European officials at the Political Forum in Brussels. They will insist on the reform of the Constitutional Court of BiH and the closure of the Office of the High Representative.
“BiH can enter the EU only without foreign factors. This means no High Representative, no legal or false ones, and no foreign judges. If they back away from that again, they cannot say that it is Srpska that is blocking the processes. Foreigners are doing that, and that is already clear,” said the President of Srpska, Milorad Dodik.
“We want a reform of the Constitutional Court, we want a Law on the Constitutional Court, and we want no foreign participation in the Constitutional Court. We argue that it is significantly important for the OHR to leave BiH and to enable BiH to function on the basis of the Dayton Agreement,” stated Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Staša Košarac.
Federal partners in the government at the level of BiH have their agreement. They have agreed on changes to the Election Law of BiH but have not presented them to partners from Srpska. With the SNSD, the “troika” is debating the seat of the Appellate Division of the Court of BiH and the reform of the Constitutional Court. Bosniak partners explicitly reject the agreement on the departure of foreign judges, although they admit that it would open the doors for BiH to negotiate status.
“SNSD has set some of its conditions, seeking to resolve the Law on Courts and the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering in a package. Thus, along with the Law on Conflict of Interest, I believe this would be a sufficient step for us to receive a decision from the European Commission to open negotiations between BiH and the EU. We have now, in this variant, that we are blocking because we do not want to compromise,” said the Prime Minister of the Federation of BiH and President of the SDP, Nermin Nikšić.
However, European officials accuse Republika Srpska of obstructing BiH’s European path. This is all because of the joint goal of Brussels and Bosniaks to retain foreigners, says Staša Košarac. He also recalls the recent financial threats from the European Commission towards Srpska.
“We recognize certain messages from certain European officials these days trying to discipline us by approving certain financial projects using funds from the Growth Plan if the RS makes other decisions on the political plane. These conditionalities are unacceptable to us,” added Košarac.
Representatives of Srpska expect the Brussels Forum to show whether Europe is ready to respect the rights of Republika Srpska.
“Srpska has shown readiness for three foreign judges to be selected in the House of Representatives or in the BiH Parliament, while other judges to be selected in the parliaments of entities. But Bosniaks don’t want that because they only protect their interests. Until the tyranny of the Constitutional Court stops, we cannot become a member of the EU, nor can we talk about a free democratic country,” said Member of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, Milan Petković.
March 2024 is the deadline set by the European Commission for BiH to meet key European priorities. If the necessary progress is made in the next three months, BiH will receive the status of a candidate for joining the Union. Whether it’s close or far away will be known after the Political Forum.”
Source: RTRS
