Chairman of the Committee for European Integration and Regional Cooperation in the RS National Assembly, Branislav Borenovic, said on Friday in Banja Luka that the submission of BiH application to join the European Union represents a small step, behind which stands an important and big job.
“The application must be credible and demonstrate our serious intention. It will be followed by the opening of chapters, which will be a large obligation for us. We expect to receive the questionnaire of the European Commission, to which we must respond in appropriate manner. I can say that from the 15th of February in BiH nothing will be the same as before that date”, Borenović told the media during the break of the 6th session of the BiH Parliamentary Forum on Integration.
This Forum is a coordinating body that brings together the Commission for the integration of all Parliaments of BiH. Borenović said that members of the Forum discussed at the meeting the agenda which holders of executive authorities in BiH must respect, and the use of IPA funds. As the most important result of the meeting, Borenović pointed out the harmonization of joint statement for which he expressed satisfaction with the agreement on cooperation mechanism of parliamentary committees in BiH which are related to BiH approach to EU.
“We welcomed the decision of the BiH Presidency about the submission of application for BiH accession to the EU, as well as the action plans to support the fulfillment of the tasks specified in the Reform Agenda”, Borenovic stated.
He pointed out that everyone in the country is aware that the process of accession to the European Union will be very long and BiH will have to answer to hundreds of thousands of questions. It will, as he said, force BiH politicians to be very serious in this business.
Chairwoman of the House of Peoples of the Federation of BiH Parliament, Lidija Bradara, said that a meeting in Banja Luka indicates that the cooperation mechanism is more technical than it is a political question.
“It is obvious that in this way we have shown the importance of communication, and that we have different views, but we are willing for make compromises. It is important that our application to join the EU be recognized as credible and that’s just the beginning of the process”, Bradara said.
She believes that there will not be political obstacles because all parties in BiH are aware that they must be responsible and make decisions in the short terms.
Chairman of the Joint Commission for European Integration of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, Nikola Lovrinovic, said to journalists that he supports the submission of the application for admission to the EU.
“I hope the coordination mechanism will be agreed soon because it is essential to all the authorities in order to respond to the obligations defined in the Stabilisation and Association Agreement”, Lovrinovic said.
Mladen Dragojlovic
