"Germany cannot solve Bosnia's problems"

"Germany cannot solve Bosnia's problems"

BANJA LUKA -- Many in Bosnia will be disappointed after the summit in Berlin, because any independent approach of Germany is completely ruled out, says Karsten Dummel.

"People wonder whether Germany will solve your problems. That will not happen. The summit will be an attempt to direct the Balkan countries which are not EU members on the European path, but no more than that," said the director of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation office in Sarajevo.

This foundation is close to the Christian Democratic Union party led by Angela Merkel. Dummel spoke for the Banja Luka-based daily Nezavisne Novine to add that the conference due to take place on Thursday was "important in that it will point the way, but will not meet the expectations heard at least in Sarajevo and the (Muslim-Croat entity) Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina."

According to him, it was enough for Germany to conduct a Balkans policy that was in line with EU's policy, and ruled out any "independent approach."

Dummel added that it will not be possible to separate the economic from the political issues in Berlin.

"Cooperation, especially in energy policy or economic cooperation with the EU and Germany as part of the EU, is conditional on reforms. Without a constitutional reform and without other reforms in both entities, Bosnia-Herzegovina's membership in the EU will not be possible. It's all connected in some way," he explained.

Dummel told the paper he "did not know what homeworks would come out of the summit," but assumed that there would be "some disappointment among ordinary people because of the huge expectations."

"These expectations Germany simply cannot meet, nor is it its...