ECR Vice-President Anna Magyar was in Bosnia and Herzegovina as speaker on the panel of the 32nd Meeting of the Working Group on Relations with the Western Balkans. The meeting took place in the city of Banja Luka, gathering high-level local and international speakers who exchanged views on the role of local and regional authorities in preparing for EU accession and practices of good governance in local and regional administration. 

"Enlargement policy is one of the most successful policies of the European Union. It brings countries together and thereby ensures peace, stability and prosperity for the EU and our immediate neighbourhood. I am also pleased to confirm that the Western Balkans and the integration process in the region will be a priority in the programme of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU next year", noted Vice-President Magyar. 

Her recent, unanimously-adopted CoR opinion on the Enlargement Package 2022 welcomed the decision of the European Council to grant candidate status to Bosnia and Herzegovina and encouraged to use this development to move towards EU accession by fulfilling the 14 key priorities identified in the Commission's opinion.On 8 November, the European Commission presented Bosnia and Herzegovina’s progress report, showing advancement in some of the 14 key priorities. 

"In the context of the Commission's 2023 Enlargement Package, we welcome the recognition of the country's recent reform efforts. I also encourage you to take on the remaining tasks so that we could start discussing the actual start of the negotiations. With the right ambition, continuous progress can turn into favourable results, moving forward together", she highlighted.