The High Representative/EU Special Representative, Valentin Inzko, and the EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Ollie Rehn, agreed last night that lifting visa requirements for BiH passport holders would be very positive and the political leadership must ensure all conditions are fulfilled.
“The International Community and I personally have been warning the political leaders for months that Bosnia and Herzegovina is behind other countries in the region. Efforts to introduce new passports and adopt the necessary legislation and other measures have been not fast enough. BiH politicians know only too well that implementation of conditionality is at the root of advance towards the EU,” said Inzko.
Conditioning the benefits of closer EU association to reform is how integration works. If conditions are to be simply set aside there is no impulse for further reform, which is what actually brings benefits for society.
EUSR/HR Inzko and Commissioner Rehn expressed the hope that the BiH authorities will use the reinvigorated political dialogue of the meeting of political leaders in Dubrovnik, and the subsequent meeting hosted by the EUSR/HR in Sarajevo, to address issues arising from EU integration process, including visa liberalization, as urgently as possible.
“I remain fully committed to BiH’s inclusion into the white Schengen list and encourage the country to urgently address the technical requirements,” EUSR/HR Inzko told Commissioner Rehn. “