Bosnia and Herzegovina and Southeast Europe

The Pan-European Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina organised from 27 to 29 May 2016 in the City Hall of Sarajevo the international conference "Bosnia and Herzegovina, Southeast Europe, the European Union: Challenges of integration and regional cooperation in the context of globalisation".

The Conference was finished by the adoption of the Pan-European declaration.

As part of the conference, sessions of the Elected and Enarged Council of the Presidency of the International Pan-European Union were held on 28 and 29 May 2016.

The focus of the conference was Southeast Europe region because of its contries' interest in joining the European Union. It was attended by members of the Pan-European organisations from neighboring countries, but also from Spain, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Germany, accredited ambassadors in BiH, representatives of B&H government and the international community, political, religious and academic institutions.

During the first panel „Europe is waiting for us“, on 27 May 2016, the President of the Pan-European Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Vanja Gavran, said that the main motives the organiser emphasises for years at these conferences – there is no other alternative to Bosnia and Herzegovina but the European road and that the European Union should continue the implementation of its most successful policy, and it's enlargement policy.

President of the International Pan-European Union, Alain Terrenoire, stressed that Europe is going through the most difficult time since the establishment of the European Union, but also that the Union impatiently expects accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to him, this is not a paradox, because B&H has the capacity to become an example because its citizens, despite the difficult past, know how to live together and to reach out to one another, and that is what Europeans need today.

A member of the Presidency of the International Pan-European Union and Honorary President of the Paneuropean Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Franjo Topić, appealed to B&H politicians that the country and society should become homogeneous as soon as possible, stressing the importance of Bosnia and Herzegovina to be persistent in seeking a European path. - Peace is not everything, but without peace, everything is nothing - Topić said, stating that we should raise above all partialism and fences. Application of Bosnia and Herzegovina for membership in the European Union was accepted, so he hopes that the country will gain the candidate status in the next year.

MEP Tonino Picula thinks that B&H must never drop the momentum which has been recently achieved in their efforts to move closer to Europe and hopes, as he said, that at the end of the integration process, neither Bosnia and Herzegovina, nor the European Union will look the same. He warned that the European project, after 60 years of existence, is in a crisis and is facing great challenges that may affect the further process of EU enlargement. Picula expressed his belief that the enlargement process will be continued and said, quoting Pope Francis, that the idea of Europe need to be updated. Speaking about the situation in the region, Picula said that the Western Balkans is between progress and stagnation, adding that the region needs more rule of law, strengthening the institutional capacities and assist in restoring the economy. According to Picula, BiH is now in the delicate phase of transforming its institutions from Dayton to Brussels, for which, he said, takes time.

Head of the EU Delegation to B&H, Lars Gunnar Wigemark, also believes that B&H must keep up the pace achieved, in order to get back on track in the process of joining the EU. „The government must strongly engage in fulfilling their commitments“ - said Wigemark, highlighting the necessary fulfillment of the objectives in the Reform agenda.

Members of the Joint Committee for European Integration of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina - MP in the House of Representatives, Fehim Škaljić and the delegate in the House of Peoples, Zdenka Džambas, also participated in the annual International Conference of the Pan-European Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Addressing the participants, Škaljić said that the EU has an interest in expansion to the countries of Southeastern Europe in order of peace and stability in this part of the European continent, just as, he said, the countries of this region, which are a part of Europe, have an interest to become part of the EU in order to live in regulated countries, with better economy and standard of citizens.

On the second day of the conference, there were two panels: "Regional cooperation as a key to European integration of Southeast Europe" and "Europe is Paneuropa". The speakers were the ambassadors of the countries in the region, accredited in B&H and representatives of Pan-European organisations from the region and the EU.

The Pan-European Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina was honored to host a session of the Presidency of the International Pan-European Union. This was the first time that the session is held in Bosnia and Herzegovina.