EP decides against passing Srebrenica resolution

EP decides against passing Srebrenica resolution

"We felt it was important to mark this extremely sad 20th anniversary in the parliament, to remember the victims, pay respects to their families and to make sure something like this never happens again," he said.

"We did not request a resolution because we did not think it would be helpful in the present context in the country and also at the regional level," said Preda.

"Almost everyone we spoke to agreed with this in Bosnia-Herzegovina as well," the EP rapporteur added in an interview for the EWB website.

The initiator of the resolution on Srebrenica in the EP was Croatian MEP Ivan Jakovcic from the ALDE group, while delegates discussed the possibility of passing it as a document, or as part of EP President Martin Schulz's speech during a plenary session. Jankovcic said in the past it did not matter in which manner his proposal would be adopted.

Last week Preda traveled to Bosnia, where he had a series of meetings with political representatives and participated in a conference dubbed "Why Europe" organized by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

He says that at the beginning of his current mandate in the EP the EPP group agreed to seek two rapporteur positions, for Serbia and for Bosnia.

Preda believes that Bosnia-Herzegovina faces many challenges on its path towards the EU and that one of the most important ones is the fight against corruption.

When asked what he considered to be particularly important for the further integration of the whole region of the Western Balkans into the EU, he said:

"I see two major issues here and they are actually linked. In order to advance the integration of the whole region we need good neighborly relations and reconciliation. How to move forward towards Europe if old wounds are still unhealed and tensions persist? Of course, it is not an easy task and it is a process that takes time, but reconciliation has been, as you know, from the very beginning at the heart of the European integration."

"From this perspective, the recent initiatives of the European Commission on the connectivity agenda for the Western Balkans are to be welcomed," the Romanian MEP concluded in his interview with EWB.