TI BiH at the conference “New Government, New Reform Efforts?” organized by the Aspen Institute in Berlin: Support for the EU Integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Srđan Blagovčanin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina, participated in the international conference “New Government, New Reform Efforts?”, held on June 26 in Berlin, organized by the Aspen Institute in Berlin in cooperation with the Association of Southeast Europe (Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft), with the support of the German Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The aim of the conference is to exchange proposals and discuss ideas for supporting reform processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, strengthening the role of civil society and accelerating integration into the EU. Taking into account the current political and social situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, such as the roundness of the institutional apparatus, the increasingly widespread corruption and the increase of ethnic tensions by the country’s political leaders, the conference raised key questions about how to overcome the structural problems and institutional inertia that hinder BiH’s progress on its way to European integration.

Transparency in the work of institutions and strengthening the rule of law was one of main messages of the conference. Srđan Blagovčanin, in one of the discussions, emphasized that integrity, responsibility and transparency are key elements in building trust between citizens and institutions, and emphasized the importance of media freedom and their role in uncovering corruption and nepotism.

Blagovčanin presented the solutions that TI BiH offers as part of the “Good Governance Agenda 2025” that deal with key issues from the 14 priorities for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s membership in the EU:

“In order to free BiH from the negative influence of political elites, we must act towards the key sources of corruption,” said Blagovčanin, and added: “The reforms we are talking about must move in the direction of rationalization and depoliticization of public administration, centralization of public procurement, introduction of mandatory voting and democratization of political parties, and the introduction of the procedure of comprehensive control of holders of judicial functions – vetting.”

Srđan Blagovčanin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Special emphasis was placed on the role of the European Union in the integration process of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as on the importance of political will and the concrete steps needed to bring the country closer to EU membership. The support of Germany, as a long-term partner of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to reforms and integration was emphasized, with the promise of professional and financial support in achieving these goals.

Anna Lührmann, Minister of State for Europe and Climate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, emphasized at the opening of the conference that the EU integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina is a priority not only of the German government but also of herself “Bosnia and Herzegovina belongs to the European Union. We all agree on that, and the question now is to prepare Bosnia and Herzegovina for EU accession,” added Minister Lührmann.

The conference brought together prominent experts, representatives of civil society, media, academic community and institutions who discussed the key challenges Bosnia and Herzegovina is facing in its reform process and the path to membership in the European Union.

TI BiH remains committed to work on detecting and suppressing corruption, promoting transparency and strengthening institutions, and the conference further strengthened this goal, providing an opportunity to promote measures proposed by TI BiH of solving key problems from the 14 priorities set before BiH on the way to the EU.