SARAJEVO: Visiting German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock urged Bosnia on Tuesday to adopt key reforms needed as the Balkan nation opens accession talks with the European Union.
"There are always moments in history when opportunities must be seized," Baerbock told a press conference in Sarajevo.
Her visit came ahead of the next European Council meeting in Brussels -- on March 21 and 22 -- which will likely be the last chance for Bosnia to open EU membership negotiations before June's European elections.
Bosnia "is at a crucial crossroads on the road" to the EU, she said.
"We both have children. One day they will ask us: 'Why didn't you succeed?'
"We want to do everything we can to ensure that we can take this path to the European Union," she added addressing her Bosnian counterpart Elmedin Konakovic.
Bosnia has been an official candidate for EU membership candidate since December 2022 but must implement a string of major reforms before opening accession negotiations with the 27-member political bloc.
It has adopted a Brussels-backed anti-money laundering law but tackling more sensitive judicial reforms is still on its agenda.
As an audio leak of senior military personnel discussing the war in Ukraine has embarrassed the German government, Baerbock warned against Russian "rhetoric" in Bosnia.
She made a clear reference to Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik who is a Kremlin ally and was recently decorated by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"We can see that this war of division waged by Putin in Europe is also a war of narratives, that language is used as a weapon of division," Baerbock said.
The Bosnian minister said he hoped for a "European energy that will lift this country up". — AFP
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