Talk of secession and abolition of entities from some politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina only serves to deceive citizens and divert attention from real-life issues, such as the economic crisis and dealing with social exclusion, High Representative Miroslav Lajčák said today at the Brussels Forum, an annual gathering of senior actors in EU and world politics. The High Representative was joined by European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn for a discussion of the situation in BiH.
“Politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina take their country’s European perspective for granted, which is a great mistake”, Lajčák said. “You have to fight for the European Union every day, in every place and in every way – not only in words, as is too often the case in BiH, but by concrete deeds.”
The European Union has reiterated many times that its doors are open to Bosnia and Herzegovina and called on its politicians to take seriously their commitments in the EU integration process. “The EU expects from domestic leaders to act responsibly, in line with the European promises made to their voters at the elections. It is time that they start doing their job by taking over responsibility for the future of their country and the citizens who elected them. In that, they will have the support of the international community, but they cannot expect that we lead them by hand and do their job for them”, Lajčák stressed.
The High Representative welcomed the commitment of the European Union to a reinforced mandate of the EU Special Representative in BiH, as part of the EUSR-OHR transition. “Before this can happen, the BiH authorities must fulfil the conditions and objectives set by the Peace Implementation Council. The transition will be possible once a constitutional amendment on Brcko has been passed and the issue of state property has been resolved. At the same time, politicians must stop their practice of empty nationalist rhetoric, which poisons the political atmosphere in the country”, Lajčák concluded.