Pusić: Bosnia’s moving forward high on priority list

After the Foreign Affairs Council’s discussion on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Minister Pusić stated: “We discussed the conclusions and the work awaiting the EU after BiH elections

After the Foreign Affairs Council’s discussion on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Minister Pusić stated: “We discussed the conclusions and the work awaiting the EU after BiH elections. But first and foremost, it was a good thing that BiH was put on the agenda at all, when all focus is on Ukraine and Syria. We will spend most of the day discussing Ukraine.”

“BiH is an issue that the EU can solve. Croatia is concerned that, if pushed aside, the issue could turn into a major problem of destabilizing Europe. However, we do believe that the EU is more than capable of solving it,” Pusić said.

“It is important to keep Bosnia’s European prospect in focus. Also, what has been agreed on and assumed from the conclusions – a wider and more focused approach is required for BiH. We repeat: not lowering the criteria, but helping BiH meet them. The criteria have been high thus far, BiH wasn’t meeting them and was sliding back. That’s why a proactive approach is required. If that does not happen, that could be bad for BiH as well as Europe’s stability,” she said.

Asked about what could be done before the election, the minister pointed out a “growth agreement” and an overall coordination of financial aid.

“We also mentioned the importance of motivating the civil society to engage in politics, so as to bring new energy into it. But in order for that to happen, the people need to feel that BiH has a real chance of joining the EU,” Pusić said.

Responding to a question whether the implementation of the ruling in the Sejdić-Finci case was high on BiH priority list, Pusić said: “What’s high on the priority list is that BiH moves forward. The implementation of the Sejdić-Finci ruling also serves the normalization of the functioning of BiH institutions.”

Pusić also said that the EU member states had consulted each other in regard to BiH. “That is the greatest success, extremely important for moving forward. The member states put forth suggestions and ideas. And that is crucial for BiH and our region – that the topic does not fall off the agenda,” she said.

In regard to Ukraine, the minister said: “The situation is very worrying. The topic of today's meeting was additional sanctions against Russia and preparations for talks in Geneva.”

Press releases