Joining the European Union “is the only hope for our country”, said Mladen Ivanić, Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, speaking today in an address to the Parliamentary Assembly. “If we remain isolated, our internal differences will be more relevant. If we are part of something broader, we will immediate relax the whole political situation and the internal differences will be less relevant,” he added.
“This is the plan. I do not want to create a too-optimistic perception. There will be a lot of challenges, but for the first time I think we are both serious, the European Union and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s leadership, to do something. I do not want to even think about the alternatives, because stability is still very fragile,” he said.
“Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia not only chair the Council of Europe and the OSCE, but have a close and straightforward co-ordination of our activities, all in order to have the best possible response to the emerging crisis our continent is faced with today,” Mr Ivanić underlined.
“The problems we face today transgress international borders, meaning they cannot be solved by countries individually. Only by working together – the member States of the Council of Europe, in close co-operation with the Parliamentary Assembly, the Committee of Ministers and the Congress – can we successfully tackle these challenges,” he said.
See also:
Igor Crnadak presents the priorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Chairmanship