prijava
SARAJEVO, May 23 (FENA) - The European Union Special Representative Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUSR) has launched a project called 'PrEUzmi inicijativu' (Take the (EU)Initiative), in which nine local communities across BiH will hold public debates on the challenges and opportunities presented by the EU accession process.
The first debate was held today in Sarajevo, in the local community of Ilidža, and was hosted by the Head of the EU Delegation to BiH and EU Special Representative, Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark.
“I believe that the European Commission will soon send an opinion on the BiH application for membership, which will confirm that BiH can be a member of the EU one day. Of course, there are many things that BiH will have to comply with the EU regulations and legislation,” said Wigemark.
European integration of BiH primarily requires the participation of all citizens and full transparency of all processes, as this will reduce the role of EU representatives and increase the responsibility of BiH citizens themselves, Wigemark said answering the question of one of the participants.
In a dynamic discussion with more than 100 entrepreneurs, representatives of public institutions, youth, academia, associations and non-governmental organizations, Spanish Ambassador to BiH José María Valdemoro Giménez, British Ambassador to BiH Matthew Field, and local and regional experts also participated in the debate.
Ambassador Field emphasized that his country is present in many projects in BiH.
Looking back at the problem of departure of BiH citizens to the EU countries, he said that citizens want to see a stronger rule of law, better public services, jobs and growth.
Citizens should demand from the elected politicians to do exactly what they have been appointed for. All these reforms will bring the country closer to the EU.
Ambassador Giménez stressed that the EU and the member states are ready to support all the BiH institutions that work on the European integration process.
“There are many challenges to which BiH will need to respond on the road to the EU, so it is necessary to direct all the force towards reform processes. Before joining the EU, Spain was also in a difficult situation. We had very high unemployment - Spain was like any other country in the third world. However, after implementing the necessary reforms and joining the EU, it has become one of the most dynamic countries in Europe,” said the Spanish ambassador.
After the debate, the participants visited the information-educational fair where projects financed by the EU were presented, which directly contribute to economic and sustainable development of local communities.
In the upcoming period, public debates will be held in eight more local communities throughout BiH.
(FENA) S. R.
