The elected representatives of BiH have an important decision to make in the next few days on how to ensure modern highway and local road infrastructure. Nobody can deny that there has been a lively debate on the issue, as befits a modern democracy. As a result, the final proposal takes the concerns of many sides into consideration and delivers a significant improvement in transparency and security in the use of funds.

The EU firmly believes that it is best to take a difficult decision that will deliver long-term results such as new highways, improved local roads, exports, growth and jobs as BiH embarks on its European journey. Put simply, BiH needs to be connected to its future partners if it is to be able to trade and prosper together with them. And those partners have put more than a billion euros on their side of the table to help BiH get started. That is 12-15 years’ worth of increased excises. We hope that the elected representatives of BiH will consider these facts. The issue has come to represent a significant moment for BiH.

The future of BiH is built by those who see beyond narrow political interests and take tough decisions. This is what all major political leaders and parties committed to when signing the Written Commitment in February 2015. The people of BiH deserve to be represented by those who have their best interests and future prosperity at heart and all parties have already agreed that those interests will be best served by pursuing a European path as fast as possible.