Presidency Chairman: Bosnia will try to obtain EU candidate status by November 1

Anadolija

There are two issues of crucial importance to Bosnia and Herzegovina at the moment, the government formation and answering the European Commission's (EC) questionnaire, Bosnia's Presidency Chairman Milorad Dodik said following a meeting with European Union's (EU) head of diplomacy Federica Mogherini in Brussels on Tuesday.

“We ‘re running late with the Questionnaire, with procedures, but this was a chance to inform (the EU official) everything was agreed on regarding the answers (to the questionnaire), that the only thing left is translating them and that the work will be done within 20-30 days,” Dodik said pointing out there is a consensus in the country on its European road.

Three members of Bosnia's State Presidency arrived in Brussels for a two-day visit, which is their first official trip together after taking office in late November last year. Before the departure, the Presidency members expressed hope Bosnia would be granted the EU candidate status soon.

Bosnia will try to obtain the EU candidate status by November 1, by the time the new European Commission takes office, Dodik said.

According to him, it was said in the meeting that the government formation should not be conditioned with the country's NATO road.

The government must be formed, otherwise, the election makes no sense – it was the European Union's message, Dodik added.

Bosnia formally applied for the EU membership in February 2016 and was to provide the answers to the 3,242 questions of the EC's Questionnaire within six months. However, it took the country a year to complete the process due to deep political and ethnic divisions.

The country received additional questions in June 2018 to clarify the answers provided to EC President in February 2018 and to fill in the missing information.

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Due to political developments and the general election that took place in October 2018, the process has been on hold which put the country's EU road in a stalemate. Now, the EU integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina is expected to unlock.

The EC wants Bosnia to become the candidate by November 1, according to Presidency member Sefik Dzaferovic.

He told N1 following the meeting in Brussels that Mogherini was clear about saying that the Western Balkans was among the European Union's top priorities.

“There is no doubt that the European Commission wants Bosnia and Herzegovina to get the candidate status by November 1 this year, the latest,” said Dzaferovic.

Presidency member Zeljko Komsic briefly addressed the media in Brussels, saying that the meeting was “a true encouragement.”

Bosnia's tripartite members are set to meet on Wednesday the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations and the European Council President.