EU urges greater reform in Bosnia

THE EU is pushing Bosnia and Herzegovina’s leaders to carry out reforms to allow the international community to reduce its role in running the country.

Following elections on 1 October, Bosnia’s new leaders are being called upon to reform the police force and the constitution in order to end Bosnia’s status as a de facto protectorate.

Christian Schwarz-Schilling, the international community’s high representative and EU special envoy to Bosnia, has said he wants his post to be dissolved by June 2007.

Observers now say that Schwarz-Schilling’s target date looks increasingly likely to be missed.

After the violence of the early 1990s Bosnia was left with Bosniak-Croat and Serb police forces which cannot cross into each others’ territory and which have been accused of failing to co-operate with each other.

But after an election campaign that was peppered with nationalist rhetoric, there are concerns that reform efforts have stalled. A 30 September deadline for reforming the police service has been missed.

In a bid to push the process forward Schwarz-Schilling travelled to Brussels on 9-10 October for meetings with EU officials, including foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

He insisted that the EU must reiterate promises that Bosnia can become an EU member in order to counter the perception that the Union has put a freeze on enlargement.

In an article which appeared in several Bosnian newspapers before his visit to Brussels, Schwarz-Schilling urged Bosnia’s new leaders to "demonstrate that they are serious about getting into Europe".

Talks between the EU and Bosnian leaders on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, which would bring Bosnia a step closer to joining the EU, are expected to begin in November.

THE EU is pushing Bosnia and Herzegovina’s leaders to carry out reforms to allow the international community to reduce its role in running the country.