Koukoulas, who was the EU's envoy to Bulgaria at the beginning of the decade, deplored that since Bosnia's signature of its Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) in June last year (EurActiv 18/06/08), things have "not advanced very quickly" there. In contrast to the other candidate countries for EU accession, the political forces in Bosnia have not reached consensus on European integration isssues, he added.
Asked if he was trying to 'sell' the experience of Bulgaria, which became an EU member on 1 January 2007, Kourkoulas responded:
"Of course. I certainly believe that Bulgaria is a success story and will become even more of a success story in European integration in the years to come. I always bring the example of Bulgaria to my Bosnian friends, telling them that what we are asking them to do is not something supernatural, it's something feasible. Bulgaria, Romania, countries with a lot of problems, today also, were capable of achieving the goal of fulfilling the requirements."
The EU diplomat also deplored that the Western Balkans were yet to overcome the legacy of war, adding that this was the main reason why the accession process is more difficult in Bosnia.
Regarding the issue of visa liberalisation, the diplomat said that on 25 May the Commission had sent its reports on the progress made in Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina to EU governments. He refrained from confirming press reports that some countries, including Macedonia, were at a more advanced stage, while others, like Bosnia, were lagging behind.
Kourkoulas said that after receiving member states' comments, the Commission would have to decide if and when to recommend liberalisation for "certain countries in the Western Balkans".
"I cannot speculate in this moment which countries will be included, but this is not the end of the story. Even if Bosnia is not included in the first proposal, there is still time and still the possibility to catch up. But it is also true that Bosnia started the whole process later than other countries of the region. And it is also true that the institutional complexity of Bosnia makes any progress more slow," the ambassador said.
As for the future of the large international presence in Bosnia, Kourkoulas said the European Union was ready to take over from the UN high representative, but the conditions for doing so had not yet been met.
