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28th Mar 2024

EU confirms plans to step up Bosnia presence

EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday (10 November) reiterated the bloc's will to play a greater role in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while stressing concerns over the country's stability and expressing hopes that a political agreement signed over the weekend between the three main political parties was a step in the right direction.

"The Council emphasised the European Union's renewed willingness to step up its involvement in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to assume its responsibilities by making use of all the instruments at its disposal," the ministers' conclusions read.

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"The Council reiterated its support for the aim of transition from the Office of the High Representative to a stronger European Union presence."

Currently, the international community and the EU have a representative in Sarajevo - Slovak diplomat Miroslav Lajcak - who wields significant powers. The Office of the High Representative (OHR) was enshrined in the peace treaty ending the 1992-1995 Bosnia war - the so-called Dayton Agreements.

But with the OHR likely to close by June next year, the EU has been considering ways to step up its presence in the country.

The foreign ministers also "welcomed" a joint report drafted and presented to them by EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, which stresses that "a stronger engagement of the EU is today more essential than ever before."

Decision on Althea postponed to March

The bloc's diplomats voiced "deep concern" at Bosnia and Herzegovina's unstable political situation, and warned that the use of "nationalist rhetoric" by its leaders could ultimately threaten "power sharing and the foundations of the state."

With relations between the Bosniak and Serb leaders in the country - Haris Silajdzic and Milorad Dodik - deteriorating, the EU has multiplied warnings to Sarajevo in the last few months. Last week in its progress report on Bosnia, the European Commission said that "inflammatory rhetoric has adversely affected the functioning of institutions and slowed down reform" in the country.

Over the weekend however, Bosnia's three main ethnic groups – Croat, Muslim and Serb – reached a deal to pursue EU-required reforms, including changing the country's constitution and holding a census by 2011.

The EU "noted with satisfaction the agreement ... between three of the main Bosnian parties" and "called for these proposals to be rapidly put into concrete form and invited the Bosnian political forces to unite around this project."

Nevertheless, the bloc has at this point postponed a decision on withdrawing its peacekeeping force from the country.

"Everybody agrees that the main military job has been done but the political situation in Bosnia means we have to take our time," French defence minister Herve Morin, whose country holds the six-month rotating EU presidency, said after the meeting of the bloc's defence and foreign ministers.

"The idea is that we would revisit this in March and decide whether or not the operation should be concluded," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The EU's Althea force replaced the NATO-led SFOR in December 2004 to oversee the military implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement.

Kosovo: EULEX deadlock

Meanwhile, a deadlock on the deployment of the EU's police and justice mission EULEX in Kosovo seemed set to continue on Monday, after Kosovar Albanians rejected an amended UN plan on how EULEX should proceed.

According to the plan - which reportedly now fits Serb demands - police in most of Kosovo, or the majority Albanian areas, would be under an EU umbrella, while in the northern part mostly populated by Serbs, they would remain under UN supervision.

"We respect all initiatives but we have said that Kosovo is an independent country," Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu said in Pristina.

"These points are interfering in the constitution of Kosovo," he added, newswires report.

Mr Solana said in Brussels he still hoped an agreement between Kosovars, Serbs and the UN on EULEX deployment can be reached by the end of the week.

French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner added: "The UN system has been more or less accepted by the Serbs. It must be now accepted by Kosovars."

The deployment of the EULEX police and civilian administration team in Kosovo has already suffered several delays, with the initial plan stating it should be finalised by the end of the year.

EU planning to take over Bosnia supervision

Increasingly concerned over stalling progress in Bosnia and "inflammatory rhetoric" used by its politicians, EU foreign ministers are expected to adopt on Monday a paper suggesting the bloc should be prepared to take over Bosnia's international supervision next year.

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.

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