Following an online meeting today with Edin Forto, Minister of Communication and Traffic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and leader of ALDE Party member party Naša Stranka, ALDE Party Co-President Ilhan Kyuchyuk MEP issued the following statement:

“ALDE Party welcomes the decision to open accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina and applauds the tireless work of our member party Naša Stranka - the most pro-European party in the country - in advancing this European perspective for the country. 

"European liberals are long-standing advocates for the accession of the countries of the Western Balkans to the European Union and our commitment towards European integration is reaffirmed in our manifesto for the upcoming European elections.

"It is vital now that everyone in elected leadership in Bosnia and Herzegovina pulls in the same direction so that progress can be made on this and the momentum is capitalised upon. 

"We therefore condemn the efforts of some in elected office that seek to harm these perspectives; instead wanting to foster crises at home and then want to act the statesman abroad. 

"We would like to remind Mr Dodik that one of the main barriers to progress is the lack of reforms in Republika Srpska which are needed to unblock negotiations, and so we call on him, if he truly believes in the European perspective for the country and is committed to development and peace, to work to ensure these are implemented without further delay.

"The ALDE Party looks forward to continuing its cooperation with Naša Stranka and welcomes the party’s willingness and engagement to our forthcoming Europe-wide campaign so that we can have the strongest possible representation in the next European Parliament.”