On 15 March 2007, Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn arrived in Sarajevo. He travelled from Montenegro, where he had just initialled that country’s Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union.

During his stay, Commissioner Rehn met with the BiH Presidency – Mr. Nebojsa Radmanovic, Mr. Zeljko Komsic and Mr. Haris Silajdzic – for a discussion on BiH’s European perspective and the conditions it must fulfil to sign the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. Mr. Rehn advised the Presidency Members to exert political pressure so as to ensure police reform and full co-operation with the ICTY. At the Press Conference, Mr. Radmanovic stressed that there is political consensus on the desire to move towards Europe, but the necessary reforms are outstanding. He welcomed the continued support of the EU.

Commissioner Rehn addressed a plenary session of the BiH State Parliament, where he urged politicians and the leaders of political parties to reach the necessary policy agreements, as the reforms are not needed just to satisfy the EU, but to benefit BiH and all its citizens. He expressed his concern and disappointment that the conditions for signing the SAA are not yet fulfilled. Commissioner Rehn pointed out the valuable lesson BiH can learn from the European Union itself, which will soon celebrate its 50th anniversary, having begun in 1957, just 12 years after the end of the Second World War.  The philosophy of EU Integration is unity in diversity, as Europe includes many cultures, religions and peoples.

The Commissioner also met with Mr. Nikola Spiric, Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers, and Mr. Sven Alkalaj, BiH Minister of Foreign Affairs. At the joint press conference, Mr. Spiric expressed his regret that he was unable to say that the reforms have been successful and the SAA can be initialled. However, he believes that the internal divisions are temporary and called on all parties to engage in constructive dialogue and compromise, so as to be able to take the first serious step towards the EU. Commissioner Rehn once again underlined the European Union’s commitment and BiH’s European perspective, expressing his hope that he will soon be able to initial the SAA with BiH, thus ensuring that the country is not left behind its neighbours. He called on political leaders to act together and to do so swiftly, pointing out the paradox of EU integration being a priority, yet the conditions for achieving it are not.

Reform Process Monitoring

On 16 March 2007, the regular Reform Process Monitoring meeting brought together representatives of the BiH government and the EC, headed by Mr. Dirk Lange, Head of Unit for Albania and BiH in the Directorate-General for Enlargement.

They discussed advances, or lack thereof, in police restructuring, public administration, the single economic space, public broadcasting, money laundering, civil society, small and medium enterprise police, fiscal sustainability and control of rules of origin, among others.