The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, arrived on a visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its first stop was the municipality of Jablanica, which was affected by floods and landslides at the beginning of the month, reported the Bosnian edition of Radio Free Europe.
Von der Leyen arrived in Jablanica, southern Bosnia, in the company accompanied by the chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia, Borjana Kristo. There they talked with representatives of the local authorities.
A powerful storm hit Bosnia at the beginning of the month and caused floods and landslides in several villages in the central and southern parts of the country, with rushing waters rushing into people’s homes as they slept. The village of Donya Yablanica was almost completely buried by rocks and debris from a quarry on a hill above the village after intense rainfall. The total number of victims of the floods and landslides reached 26 people, 19 of whom died in Jablanica.
Von der Leyen expressed readiness to use funds from the European Union’s Solidarity Fund to deal with flood damage in the affected areas, notes Bosnian television BHRT.
Von der Leyen’s visit is part of a four-day Balkan tour in which she talks with the authorities of the Western Balkan countries about the European Union’s six-billion-euro Growth Plan and progress on European integration.
She was met at the Sarajevo airport by the Bosnian Foreign Minister Elmedin Konaković, writes BTA.
“Her visit is aimed at supporting the regions affected by the floods and strengthening our path to European integration. Together we are shaping the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Konakovic wrote on his X profile.
Tomorrow, Von der Leyen is expected to meet with the three-member Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then with the presiding Council of Ministers and government representatives.
The President of the EC started her Balkan tour on October 23 with a meeting with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama in Tirana. Today she was in Skopje, where she met with the Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Hristiyan Mickoski. He is expected to visit Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro on Friday and Saturday.
Von der Leyen’s last meetings with representatives of the Western Balkan countries were last week at the Berlin Process Summit and at the Forum in Bled in early September.
Ahead of this tour, the EC approved the reform agenda for Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo, Serbia and North Macedonia, which will run from 2024 to 2027 to boost growth and connectivity with the EU, and the package is worth six billion euros. However, Bosnia was not approved due to a lack of political understanding in the country on several issues, including the appointment of judges to the Constitutional Court, RFE recalls.