Deputy Zovko: ‘Getting candidate status means that Bosnia and Herzegovina is finally coming out of the dark zone’

Bosnia and Herzegovina received the status of a candidate for EU membership. The heads of state or government of the EU member states confirmed without discussion the recommendation agreed two days ago by the ministers for European affairs, and Željana Zovko, EPP representative in the European Parliament, commented on the historic day.

– Getting candidate status means a lot, it means that Bosnia and Herzegovina is finally coming out of the dark zone where it was in a kind of vacuum. It was constantly under the radar until this crisis that happened with Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, when it was realized that the issue of stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina must be resolved for the future of Europe – said Zovko in a guest appearance on HTV’s Dnevnik.

She said that the solution to the electoral law is crucial, because it will lead to the Croats getting a legitimate member of the Presidency and to European politics.

– The whole problem, disagreements about foreign and security policy, which is a key issue for the EU itself, is the solution to the problem of the Presidency, the election of a legitimate member of the Presidency. We know that while there was a balance in the Presidency, where the Croats made a harmonious connection between the other two parts, then the external security policy was in line with European policy – says Zovko.

She added that today’s HDZ agreement with eight Bosniak and civic parties will have key consequences.

– We see that we have agreed messages, that we want to go the European way and that there is no more time for waiting and dissonant tones, and that we can overcome the vacuum we have on the other side where there are no agreed positions – concluded Zovko.