News in English     | 06.02.2020. 13:55 |

Ćutahija: We have to get back on the EU’s agenda, there is no time to spare

FENA Hana Imamović

SARAJEVO, February 6 (FENA) - The European Commission has adopted a proposal for a new accession negotiation methodology, according to which the whole process needs to be more credible, predictable and more dynamic and politically driven, a result of the fact that last year North Macedonia and Albania were not given the green light to begin negotiations with the European Union.

Secretary-General of the Pan-European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina Haris Ćutahija said in an interview with FENA that the European Union made such a decision because of the attitude of France, and the European Union somehow lost credibility in its relation to the countries of the Western Balkans.

This has hit North Macedonia the most, says Ćutahiha, as it has even changed the country's name on its road to EU accession, as France sought a change in the enlargement process and with a stronger focus on the rule of law and that the negotiation process could also go backwards.

“According to the new strategy, the goal remains the same, which is the accession and full membership of the Western Balkan countries, which is important for this region because our European perspective is confirmed,” said Ćutahija.

He stresses that a greater focus should now be on human rights, and one of the very important differences is that negotiations can go backwards.

The new methodology is built on six clusters: the basics (including current chapters 23 and 24), the internal market, competitiveness and inclusive growth, the green agenda and sustainable connectivity, resources, agriculture and cohesion and external relations.

When it comes to its implications for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ćutahija says it doesn't mean much because BiH has done a lot of things according to the old and new methodologies, and for BiH it is most important to start the reform process.

“We are witnessing that in the last year the process of European integration in BiH has not been mentioned. This has resulted in the fact the European Union has "forgotten" about us which is why we have to return to the EU’s agenda as soon as possible, and there is no time to spare,” said Ćutahija.

There are many potential problems ahead of BiH, including the implementation of the European Court of Human Rights judgment in the Sejdić and Finci case v. BiH, which has been dragging on for years, but no steps have been taken to resolve the issue.

Every time after the general elections, Ćutahija says, there are some that condition the changes to the Election Law in one way or another, but no concrete results come out of it.

Ćutahija, therefore, believes that BiH will have a problem with the new negotiation methodology, and said that the BiH institutions and political parties that have EU integration as their main foreign policy goal must reaffirm this and the real job on the European perspective.

(FENA) S. R.

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