EU to warn Bosnia against 'inflammatory rhetoric'
ELITSA VUCHEVA
30.10.2008 @ 17:42 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - In a report on the western Balkan countries' progress towards the EU that the European Commission will present next week, Brussels will reiterate a warning it expressed earlier about Bosnia and Herzegovina's political instability and the lack of reform in the country.
"Constitutional elements established by the Dayton/Paris peace agreement [which ended the 1992 – 1995 war in Bosnia] have been challenged by key political leaders in both entities" of Bosnia – the Serb-populated Republika Srpska and the federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Sarajevo - reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been slowing down. (Photo: EUobserver.com)
"The lack of consensus on the main features of state building… and [the] inflammatory rhetoric have adversely affected the functioning of institutions and have slowed down reform" in the country, reads the draft of the document seen by the EUobserver.
Inter-ethnic divisions have often stalled political and administrative reforms in Bosnia since the end of the war in 1995, and the central institutions have been weak.
However, this has been particularly strong in the last couple of years and recently the EU, NATO as well as former international peace envoys to Bosnia have all voiced concern about the "real danger of collapse" of the country.
According to the report, besides the "lack of political will and capacity problems in government and parliament" – which hinder the adoption of needed legislation, Bosnia has also to deal with corruption problems, organised crime and ensure better respect of the freedom of expression and the rights of the different ethnic minorities.
Macedonia – still no date for opening EU talks
For its part, EU candidate Macedonia is to be disappointed yet another time, as it will again not be offered a date to open membership talks with the bloc.
"The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has made some progress in the course of the last year but does not yet meet the political criteria," according to the commission.
"The parliamentary elections of 2008 did not meet key international standards and the recommendations of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights remain to be addressed. The lack of constructive political dialogue between major political parties and actors adversely affected the functioning of the political institutions," it goes on.
Additionally, and as with most countries in the region, Skopje has to improve its fight against corruption, the functioning of its judiciary and ensure better minority rights in some areas.
Similar issues, as well as administrative and institutional ones, are also underlined in the case of Albania and Montenegro.
Albania is also highlighted as a "significant country of origin for trafficking in human beings, both for sexual exploitation of women and girls and forced labour" and is urged to do more in that respect.
Meanwhile, Kosovo – which unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in February – is encouraged to continue on its EU path, but Brussels also paints a rather gloomy picture of the situation there.
Besides the problems with corruption, organised crime, money laundering and weak institutions that Pristina has to deal with, a clear division between ethnic Serbs and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo remain in all fields of life, Brussels says.
The commission will present the final version of its report on 5 November.
