Ako Bosna i Hercegovina ostane kao posljednji voz za evropsku integraciju biće to velika istorijska nepravda, izjavio je najuticajniji hrvatski član Evropskog parlamenta Andrej Plenković (EPP, HDZ), koji je zamjenik predsjedavajućeg komiteta za vanjske poslove i predvodi delegaciju za odnose sa Ukrajinom. U ovom trenutku, situacija hrvatskog naroda nije ista kao kod druga dva konstitutivna naroda – Srbima i Bošnjacima. Ovo mišljenje dijelili su svi učesnici tokom diskusije. Zato je potrebno naglasiti prava Hrvata pošto je koncept federacije najbolji, vjeruje gospodin Plenković. I dodao da sva tri naroda treba da imaju legitimno predstavništvo, decentralizaciju i federalizaciju.

To su tri elementa na osnovu kojih stabilna Bosna i Hercegovina može postati članica EU. Dejtonski sporazum je samo produženo primirje koje je prevaziđeno i mora se ponovo razmotriti njegova konstrukcija, nastavio je Andrej Plenković i predložio da se ovo pitanje sagleda paralelno sa britansko-njemačkom inicijativom koju su prije mjesec dana odobrili ministri vanjskih poslova EU i koja je omogućena zahvaljujući diplomatskim naporima Hrvatske. Ovo mišljenje dijelio je i Božo Ljubić, podpredsjednik BiH parlamenta. On je u izvjesnoj mjeri partijski sudrug Andreja Plenkovića, ali ne sasvim. Član je koalicije HDZ 1990-HSP BiH. Po njemu, BiH je nekoherentan, nejednak i asimetričan sistem koji ne dozvoljava implementaciju reformi.

If Bosnia and Herzegovina remains the last train of European integration it will be a great historic injustice, said the most influential Croatian MEP Andrej Plenkovic (EPP, HDZ), who is a deputy chairman of the foreign affairs committee and heads the delegation for relations with Ukraine. At the moment, the situation of the Croatian people is not equal to the other two constitutional peoples - of the Serbs and the Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims). This opinion was shared by all participants during the discussion. That is why it is necessary the rights of the Croats to be enhanced as the concept of a federation is the best, Mr Plenkovic believes. All the three peoples should have a legitimate representation, decentralisation and federalisation, he added.

Those are the three elements on the basis of which a stable Bosnia and Herzegovina can become a member of the EU. The Dayton agreement is simply an extended truce which is outdated and its construction must be reconsidered, Andrej Plenkovic continued and proposed this question to be viewed in parallel with the British-German initiative approved a month ago by the EU foreign ministers and which was made possible thanks to Croatia’s diplomatic efforts. This opinion was shared also by Bozo Ljubic, deputy speaker of the representation of the BiH parliament. He is to some extent a fellow party member of Andrej Plenkovic but not quite. He is a member of the coalition HDZ 1990-HSP BiH. According to him, BiH is an incoherent, unequal and asymmetric system which does now allow for reforms to be implemented.

Postići interni sporazum je takođe nemoguće. Rekao je da su i danas, 20 godina poslije, još uvijek prisutne iste političke i nacionalne paradigme koje su pratile raspad bivše Jugoslavije. Rješenje je federalizacija jer će inače BiH postati crna rupa na Balkanu i jugoistočnoj Evropi. Sve dok postoji ova crna rupa, susjedne zemlje ne mogu napredovati, poruka je Bože Ljubića. Po njegovim riječima, treba proučiti kako funkcionišu Belgija i Švajcarska jer su i one multietničke zemlje.

I mada se u principu slažu da je potrebno osigurati ista prava za tri konstitutivna naroda u BiH, druga dva veoma uticajna člana EP – Ruža Tomašić i Tonino Picula – imali su drukčiji pogled o tome kako tačno riješiti ovaj problem. Gospođa Tomašić je ušla u Evropski parlament u koaliciji sa hrvatskim HDZ-om, ali nije članica EPP grupe nego grupe Evropskih konzervativaca i reformista. Uz to, nedavno je napustila svoju Stranku prava dr Ante Starčević (HSP dr Ante Starčević) i pridružila se novoj konzervativnoj formaciji. Prema njenom mišljenju, nijedno rješenje ne treba nametati BiH nego da tri naroda treba sami da odluče šta da urade sa njihovom zemljom. Kasnije je rekla jednom insajderu da se sada svi upliću u unutrašnje stvari zemlje. Svi govore šta treba da se radi.

Hrvatska treba pomoći sa savjetom, prijedlozima, da se pitanje postavi na nivo EU a ne da se upliće.

Ipak, složila se da se Dejton mora revidirati i da se to treba desiti sada, a na osnovu jednakosti tri naroda. Ona takođe vjeruje da Srbija, Crna Gora i Bosna i Hercegovina treba da krenu u EU u paketu jer “ne možete imati EU ili Šengen ovdje a nemati ih tamo”. Ovo je skupo i neefikasno, rekla je, posebno iz perspektive Šengena. Opet je naglasila da su ljudi u BiH oni koji treba da odluče šta da rade. Tonino Picula, bivši minister vanjskih poslova a sada član EP (S&D, SDP), rekao je da je BiH mnogo više proces nego funkcionalna država. Ipak, on vjeruje da britansko-njemačka inicijativa treba da dobije šansu kao i da političarima u zemlji treba dati vremena da počnu raditi zajedno.

Mnoge zemlje Zapadnog Balkana imaju problema sa funkcionisanjem institucija, ne samo BiH. Ali je rekao da je loše što su SAD izvan procesa. U State Departmentu još je dominantna takozvana dejtonska pravovjernost, ali ipak SAD ne treba da budu izolovane od budućnosti BiH. Naveo je neke glasine da se SAD osjećaju uvrijeđenim što nisu konsultovane o britansko-njemačkoj inicijativi. Trenutno, nema nekog velikog apetita u EU da se ponovo pregovara o Dejtonskom mirovnom sporazumu ali je to za Hrvatsku top prioritet. Pitanje će svakako postati centralno za vanjsku politiku zemlje ako Hrvatska demokratska zajednica (HDZ) Tomislava Karamarka pobijedi na parlamentarnim izborima krajem ove godine.

To achieve internal agreement is also impossible. Today, 20 years later, the same political and national paradigms that accompanied the process of breaking up of former Yugoslavia are still present, he said. The solution is federalism because otherwise BiH would become a black hole of the Balkans and South Eastern Europe. As long as this hole is there the neighbouring countries cannot prosper, was Mr Ljubic’s message. In his words, it should be studied how Belgium and Switzerland function because they, too, are multiethnic states.

And although they agree in principle that it is necessary to ensure equal rights for the three constitutional peoples in BiH, the other two very influential MEPs - Ruza Tomasic and Tonino Picula - had different views on how exactly to resolve this problem. Mr Tomasic entered the European Parliament in coalition with the Croatian HDZ but she is not a member of the EPP group but of the European Conservatives and Reformists group. In addition, she recently left her own Party of Rights Dr Ante Starcevic (HSP Dr Ante Starcevic) and joined a new conservative formation. According to her, no solutions should be imposed on BiH but rather the three peoples should decide themselves what to do with their state. Later she told euinside that at the moment everyone is interfering in the country’s affairs. Everyone is saying what needs to be done.

Croatia should help with advice, proposals, to raise the issue at EU level but not interfere.

Nonetheless, she agreed that Dayton must be revised and that should happen now on the basis of the equality among the three peoples. She also believes that Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina should move to the EU in a package because “you cannot have some EU or Schengen here and not have them there”. This is expensive and inefficient, she said, especially from the perspective of Schengen. She again insisted that the people in BiH are those who should decide what to do. Tonino Picula, a former minister of foreign affairs and now an MEP (S&D, SDP), said that BiH is much more a process than a functioning state. Nevertheless, he believes that the German-British initiative should be given a chance and also the politicians in the country should be given time to start working together.

Many of the Western Balkan countries have problems with the functioning of the institutions, not only BiH. But he said that it is bad that the US is out of the process. In the State Department is still dominant the so called Dayton Orthodoxy, he said, but nonetheless USA should not be kept isolated from the future of BiH. He quoted some rumours that US felt ignored for not being consulted about the German-British initiative. Currently, there is no strong appetite in EU to renegotiate the Dayton peace agreement but to Croatia this is a top priority. The issue will certainly become a central one for the country’s foreign policy if Tomislav Karamarko’s Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) wins the parliamentary elections later this year.