The Croatian president says it is deeply cynical and a Croatian political tragedy that Bosnia and Herzegovina has not been granted EU candidate status. The Serbian member of the presidency of the country stated that it was pointless to talk about the European path of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Kovacs: EU applied double standards

The European Council last week decided to grant Ukraine and Moldova EU candidate status. Georgia will also receive that status if it meets certain criteria. The countries of the Western Balkans, however, do not seem to be able to progress any closer to the EU. North Macedonia and Albania have not been able to start accession negotiations due to Bulgaria’s veto, whereas Serbia could not open a new cluster, despite the fact that the country is ready for it, the chairwoman of the integration committee of the Serbian parliament said.

Elvira Kovacs told Subotica, Serbia based Pannon TV that a geopolitical decision had been made in Brussels. It proves that double standards can indeed be and are applied, the chairwoman said, adding that the EU has so far been much stricter with candidates or potential candidates, especially if they were Western Balkan countries.

According to Kovacs, Brussels wanted to send a political message about supporting Ukraine. The countries of the Eastern Partnership have tried to take advantage of this so that the EU deals with them as a group, she noted.

„It makes no sense to me why they left poor Georgians out of this move. In the past period, they have made at least partial progress in meeting the criteria set by the EU.”

the politician emphasized in the interview.

European Council President Charles Michel said the European Commission recognised the prospect of accession and was ready to grant Tbilisi candidate status as „other priorities” were resolved.

The Balkans yet again pushed into background

Exceptions could have been made regarding the countries of the Western Balkans, and now that a politically-based decision has been made about Ukraine’s candidacy, then the integration of the countries of the whole region should have been accelerated, or at least Bosnia should have been granted candidate status, the chairwoman of the integration committee of the Serbian parliament said. In the case of Sarajevo, the EU still requires the fulfilment of the 14 criteria it had earlier defined.

„The whole summit was an absolute mess. It should have been used for the acceleration of the enlargement process, and the EU should have been a little more understanding towards everyone, yet this is not what happened. Completely different decisions have been made in the case of the Western Balkans,” Kovacs stated.

This was yet another occasion when the countries of the Western Balkans could not take any concrete steps on their way to joining the EU. Albania and North Macedonia were unable to start accession talks, and Serbia could not open a new cluster. The leaders of the states in the region held a press conference in Brussels, where they assured each other of their full support. As reported by V4NA , the Albanian prime minister said,

“A historic day, but in a negative sense. The EU’s behaviour is shameful and a disgrace. This is nothing more than empty promises for enlargement.”

Croatia’s president calls it treason

The Croatian head of state also sharply criticised the decision of the European Council. In Zoran Milanovic’s view, the fact that Ukraine has been granted EU candidate status and Bosnia has not is an example of gross cynicism and a political tragedy for Croatia. The president has slammed Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman for saying that Bosnia and Herzegovina was a dysfunctioning state.

„This is treason. This is a political tragedy for Croatia. It doesn’t qualify as high treason, but it is treason. Cynically explaining to suffering people that they are in fact the ones who are helping is cold, cynical and sadistic betrayal,”

Milanovic said.

Dodik: The European path is becoming meaningless for Bosnia and Herzegovina

The European path for Bosnia and Herzegovina is completely meaningless, Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of the presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said following the Brussels summit last week, pointing out that it should be redefined and set in real time frames. There was bloodshed also in Bosnia in the recent past, just like in Ukraine now, but no exceptions were made with the Balkan country, the politician underlined.

„They think that we are people of lesser value, they think that we should be under constant pressure. The war here and the sufferings of 94 thousand people were not enough for them. They made their decision and consider it historical,”

Mr Dodik told the television channel RTRS. It is difficult to comprehend why Ukraine and Moldova have been awarded candidate status, the Serb politician said, as no one knows how the conflict in Ukraine will end and what end the war will have.

Ahead of the EU summit, European Council President Charles Michel met the leaders of the three component state entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina to negotiate a better chance for the country’s EU candidacy. At the meeting, Serbs, Bosnians and Croats discussed several issues, but to no avail, as decision-makers failed to reward them for their efforts in the end. Nevertheless, Mr Dodik thanked Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Austria and Poland for supporting their candidacy.

Vucic: Candidacy given even if the country has done nothing for it

It has become absolutely clear that in Brussels, when it comes to the EU’s geopolitical interests, a country can get candidate status even if it has done nothing for it, Serbia’s president said after the EU summit. The date of Serbia’s accession to the EU depends on the political and geopolitical situation, Aleksandar Vucic noted. This assumption is bolstered by the fact that a country can gain candidacy without any preparations for the status while North Macedonia and Albania could not open accession talks and Bosnia has not become a candidate even though these countries have done a great deal to this end, he underlined, adding,

„We must continue on our European path, but we must rely on our own strength. We have shown that, thanks to our work, we can survive and stay on the path to the EU, and do all this while maintaining our traditional friendships and changing the country to nearly beyond recognition.”

Serbia’s accession process has been dragging on for more than a decade. The country submitted its application for EU membership in December 2009, and received candidate status in 2012.