Ursula von der Leyen: EU Serious About European Prospects of Western Balkans

Ursula von der Leyen, (BETAPHOTO/STA/Tamino Petelinsek/MO)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said that her visit to the region shows how serious the EU is about the European prospects of the Western Balkan states and underscored that Brussels wants them by its side.

After a Sept. 30 ceremony marking the opening of a bridge connecting Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, near the Svilaj border crossing, she said that during her visits to the Western Balkan states she had been "impressed" by their progress and motivation to join the EU, Croatian news agency HINA reported.

"The Western Balkans belong in the EU. It is in our common interest, but I also believe, it is our destiny," said the EC president.

Speaking about Bosnia and Herzegovina's progress, she stressed the need for "urgent progress" in electoral and constitutional reforms. Von der Leyen further said that what had been agreed should be respected, that is, that the equality of all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina should be guaranteed, as that was key for the state to make headway toward Europe.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic also attended the ceremony and, together with Von der Leyen and Chairman of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Council of Ministers Zoran Tegeltija, opened the new bridge.

In his speech, Tegeltija said there were "many issues" in which the EU "sometimes does not understand Bosnia and Herzegovina enough" and added that he believed the citizens of the country "want the EU much more than it wants them."