Bosnia takes first step toward EU

Bosnia signs EU accord
By Tony Barber
Financial Times, 17 June 2008

Bosnia-Herzegovina took its first step on the ladder to European Union membership on Monday when it signed a pre-accession agreement almost 13 years after the end of its bloody civil war.

The accord, signed at an EU foreign ministers’ meeting, was made possible in April when Bosnia’s parliament adopted reforms intended to achieve closer integration of the country’s separate Muslim-Croat and Serb police forces.

Other than Kosovo, which declared its independence from Serbia in February, Bosnia was the only part of former Yugoslavia that had not yet signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU.

However, when the 27-nation bloc signed the accord with Serbia on April 29, it attached the proviso that ratification by all EU governments would depend on full Serbian co-operation with the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Netherlands.

EU ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, welcomed the agreement with Bosnia as “an important step on the country’s path towards the EU”. Some Balkan experts described it as the most significant breakthrough for Bosnia since the Dayton, Ohio peace deal of 1995.

However, even European officials acknowledge that full EU membership for Bosnia is a distant prospect.

The EU is in the meantime conducting talks on visa liberalisation for Bosnian citizens, but progress will depend on Bosnia’s ability to introduce biometric passports and meet other EU criteria.

The EU has poured €2.5bn ($3.8bn, £2bn) into Bosnia over the past 15 years.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
The EU signed in Luxembourg on the 16 June 2008 a stabilisation and association agreement with Bosnia
and Herzegovina (BiH), following the completion of negotiations launched in 2005, as well as an interim agreement on trade and trade-related matters.

• Primary Source

http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/countries/detailed-country-information/bosnia-herzegovina/index_en.htm http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/countries/detailed-country-information/bosnia-herzegovina/index_en.htm

Council of the European Union: Press Release: PRES/08/180: EU signs stabilisation and association agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/er/101233.pdf

---