Friday

29th Mar 2024

EU must demonstrate 'leadership' in Bosnia

The EU is expected to demonstrate "leadership" in assuring Bosnia and Herzegovina's transition to a viable state that could one day join the 27-member bloc, the international community's high representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina said in Brussels on Tuesday (9 September).

"The western Balkans are the only region with a clear EU perspective, and that is what makes it different from our [EU] foreign policy elsewhere. It is the one region … where the EU is expected to demonstrate leadership and strategic reasoning," Miroslav Lajcak, who is also the EU's special representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), told members of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"This is our backyard. To put it bluntly, Europe cannot expect to be seen as a global player if it's unable to put its own house in order," he added.

Mr Lajcak said the security situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina was currently stable, but stressed that the country is still facing numerous political challenges, the solving of which requires the EU to play a role.

One strategic issue, he underlined, is constitutional reform in Bosnia. There is currently no united approach to such reform, not only domestically, but also within the international community.

"The international community and the EU in particular needs to define what it expects from any agreement" on constitutional reform in Bosnia, he said.

High representative for how long?

Mr Lajcak's post as international warden – or High Representative – in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was enshrined in the peace treaty ending the 1992-1995 Bosnia war, the so-called Dayton Agreements.

The Office of the High Representative (OHR) was scheduled to close in June last year, but its life was subsequently extended, as Bosnia was not judged ready to govern itself.

The next meeting of the countries supervising Bosnia since the end of the war in 1995 will take place in November to review progress achieved by Sarajevo towards self-government, but Mr Lajcak said the remaining conditions set out for the OHR to close are unlikely to be fulfilled by then.

However, he underlined that the OHR will close sooner or later. At which point, the EU should then be ready to step in.

"For the EU, the OHR closure will only be the beginning of our new mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. So there is no exit strategy for us," he told MEPs.

"The international community will look to the European Union for leadership … We cannot afford to fail."

Strong support for EU integration

Inter-ethnic divisions have often stalled political and administrative reforms in the country, but support for EU membership is independent from ethnic affiliations, and is as high as 80 percent, Mr Lajcak pointed out.

Bosnia and Herzegovina include the semi-autonomous entity of Republika Srpska, mainly populated by Serbs (88%), together with the Bosniak-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Last June, Bosnia was the last country from the western Balkan region, except for Kosovo, to sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU – a pre-accession deal representing a first step towards eventual EU membership.

Before joining the bloc however, Sarajevo has many issues to solve, in particular corruption and organised crime, but also economic and political insufficiencies.

Meanwhile, the Serbian parliament on Tuesday overwhelmingly - 140 to 28 votes - approved Serbia's SAA.

The deal was signed in April, but EU member states have put ratification on hold until Belgrade is judged as co-operating fully with the UN war crimes tribunal in the Hague.

The European Commission later welcomed the ratification of the document by Serbian MPs and reiterated its position in favour of member states implementing at least the trade related parts of the SAA following the arrest of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic in July.

Ukraine slams grain trade restrictions at EU summit

Restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU could translate into military losses in their bid to stop Russia's war, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned EU leaders during their summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Difficult talks ahead on financing new EU defence spending

With the war in Ukraine showing no signs of ending any time soon, EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (21 and 22 March) to discuss how to boost the defence capabilities of Ukraine and of the bloc itself.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us