Lajcak says EU has offered Bosnia a helping hand, expects fast reforms

Sarajevo, 19 November 2014 (MIA) - By deciding to adopt a new approach to Bosnia/Herzegovina the European Union has given the country a helping hand and it now expects the country's government to be formed as soon as possible so that necessary reforms could begin without delay, Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak said in Sarajevo on Wednesday.

The Slovak diplomat arrived in Sarajevo two days after the EU Foreign Affairs Council on Monday endorsed a German-British proposal for a new approach to Bosnia and Herzegovina envisaging stepping up economic, social and political reforms and the fast entry into force of the country's Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA).

The EU and Bosnia and Herzegovina signed that agreement back in 2008, but it was never ratified because the country failed, due to internal disputes, to establish a single mechanism for the coordination of relations with the EU.

Lajcak said that he was visiting Sarajevo just days before the EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Federica Mogherini, to hear from local politicians what they planned to do regarding reforms, Hina news agency reports. 

Lajcak said the EU's new approach was based on the expectation that Bosnia and Herzegovina would commit to implementing three sets of reforms, one referring to economic and social reforms, the other to making Bosnia and Herzegovina more functional as a state, and the third to reforms that were necessary for the country's progress on the path to the EU.

"For that we need as partners a government that will have the mandate, the strength and the legitimacy to implement reforms," said Lajcak.

He added that the EU did not want to interfere in the make-up of the new government, but that it wanted a reliable partner capable of fulfilling the accepted obligations.

Bosnia's Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija, who is holding that position in caretaker capacity until a new government is appointed, confirmed that he strongly supported the EU's initiative and considered it to be a major opportunity for Bosnia.

"I believe that without making the criteria less strict and by redefining the order of moves, Bosnia and Herzegovina's SAA can very soon go into force and the country can gradually obtain the status of an EU candidate," said Lagumdzija.