SARAJEVO – It is very easy to slide into negativity when one thinks about the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but there are also some success stories regarding the cooperation of the local communities both in BiH and in the region in general, which transcend the ethnic lines, stressed the speakers at the panel “Bosnia and Herzegovina – Back to the beginning? How to end stagnation?”, held in Sarajevo on Wednesday, on the occasion of 10th anniversary of the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG).
Lejla Kusturica, Director of ACT and ecological activist, remarked that it was not always clear to the local people what the EU “wants from us”, and it is the question of whether the EU is preserving its own values.
“Local people cherish profound values, such as solidarity and dignity… When it comes to ecological activism, we are sitting at the table and not discussing the past but the future. We should rely on ourselves in this region, to bridge the ethnic gaps. Also, there is a need for the stronger participation of the local people and civil society in the public debates when the strategic decisions are made”, Lejla Kusturica said
Speaking about the greatest “roadblocks” on the BiH path towards the EU, Damir Kapidžić, member of BiEPAG and Professor at the University of Sarajevo, stated that next year the 30 years of the Dayton Agreement will be marked, which brought peace, but “there are elements of it that must be changed to make this country functional”.
“You must make the best of what you have. Ideally, there should be the Constitution that everybody will be satisfied with… The Bosnian people generally see politicians as people who block the necessary reforms, but there has also been some change in this domain. For instance, people do not vote only for the ultra-nationalists”, Kapidžić remarked.
Similarly, Ivana Korajlić, Executive Director of Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina, remarked that corruption is one of the burning issues, so civil society and local communities should pressure decision-makers to make hard decisions.
“There is strong political control over the institutions which are supposed to be independent and we often witness the failure to make concrete progress in the fight against corruption and improvement of the rule of law. Also, the judiciary system in BiH has been regionalized. Therefore, we are pretending that we are implementing the reforms for the sake of the EU”, Ivana Korajlić noted.
According to Adi Ćerimagić, Senior Analyst of the European Stability Initiative, the reality of BiH is reflected in the European Commission’s Progress Reports.
“BiH is the least prepared when it comes to the EU candidate countries. For instance, we cannot enter the EU Single Market with two parallel judicial systems. The EU and civil society should explain to people what the EU accession really means, by using concrete examples. For instance, it should be clarified what the benefits of certain laws are, and the public prosecutors should be able to work independently”, Adi Ćerimagić stressed.