The talks at the Federal Chancellery focused on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s prospects of accession to the European Union. Thanks to a German-British initiatives, the country has made great progress in the field of socioeconomic reforms, said Chancellor Angela Merkel at a joint press conference with the representatives of the country’s three-member presidency. She mentioned labour law and pension law as examples.

Chancellor Angela Merkel had invited the three-member presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Berlin. Bakir Izetbegović, the Bosnian representative, is currently President. He was accompanied by the representatives of the Croat and Serb sections of the population, Mladen Ivanić and Dragan Čović. The presidency rotates every eight months.

Helping the country to move closer to the EU

In mid-February, Bosnia and Herzegovina applied to join the European Union. The country expressed the hope that it would soon be accorded the status of a candidate country. By 18 July a decision is to be taken on passing on the application, said the Chancellor. Until then "there is a lot of work to be done".

Angela Merkel pointed to remaining obstacles. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, for instance, there is a concern that the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU will have an adverse impact on agriculture. "I have given my personal assurance that the German side will look and see how we can help, if farmers have reason to fear adverse effects." Germany is willing to provide financial support. The Chancellor recalled that both the path to the EU and to NATO are open for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Western Balkans Summit on Monday

The Chancellor looked forward to the Western Balkans Summit next Monday in Paris, at which decisions are to be taken on additional infrastructure projects and a youth office opened for the Western Balkan states. "I hope that this will also help people to feel that things are going better for them."

Close relations

Angela Merkel spoke about the cordial links between the two countries. She stressed that many people from Bosnia and Herzegovina lived and worked in Germany during the Balkan War. There are also a great many students from Bosnia and Herzegovina at German universities.