Europe’s reactions against Erdoğan too harsh: Bosnian leader
SOFIA
Europe’s reactions against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are too harsh, the chairman of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s president said on May 17.
Europe should work harder to understand Turkey and Erdoğan, Bakir Izetbegovic said, speaking at the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia.
“I think Europe’s reactions to Erdoğan are too harsh,” he said.
“I think Europe sees Turkey as burdensome, but in spite of that, it is strongly lifting its economy. Europeans should hear out Turkey and Erdoğan more,” said Izetbegovic.
He added that Bosnia and Herzegovina has never had any problems when it comes to its relationship with Turkey and the entire region.
EU and Western Balkans leaders met in Sofia on May 17 for their first summit in 15 years, focusing on European integration, as well as closer cooperation in the region.
The summit is being attended by leaders from the Western Balkans—Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Kosovo, none of them of which are EU members—as well as heads of state and government of member states and top EU officials.
