Tag: Bosnia

The European Union should adopt a "regatta" approach to membership hopefuls in the Western Balkans as a competitive race for accession should spur reforms in the countries concerned, argues Bojan Sarkic, a former senior Montenegrin diplomat.

Bosnia and Herzegovina still has many reforms to undertake, but its people need encouragement on their journey to integration with the West, Sven Alkalaj, the country's foreign minister, told EurActiv Germany in an exclusive interview.

The situation in the Western Balkans has never been better and there are signs of progress in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where competition between the entities could be used positively if it is accompanied by political will, Valentin Inzko, EU High Representative and Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), told EurActiv.de in an interview.

Many Serbs feel they are superior in South Eastern Europe and feel offended that Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union first, Hungarian centre-right MEP György Schöpflin (European People's Party), shadow rapporteur on Serbia, told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.

Although Bosnia and Herzegovina hopes to join the EU one day, political infighting between Serb, Muslim and Croat communities is threatening to derail the country from its path towards European integration.

While NATO ministers last week agreed to half-open the door for Bosnia and Herzegovina to join the alliance, EU diplomats told EurActiv that the European Union wanted to "militarily disengage" from the Balkan country, where it maintains numerous peace-keeping forces.

By the end of this year, the conditions will have been met for Bosnia and Herzegovina to apply for EU membership, Almir Šahović, the country's ambassador to France, told EurActiv.fr in an interview.

Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle deliberately left early from a regional summit in Slovenia this weekend, signalling that the European Commission's patience with the Western Balkans has its limits.

The political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is "extremely worrisome" and now appears to be turning into a "dormant frozen conflict," Hido Biščević, secretary-general of the Regional Cooperation Council for South Eastern Europe (RCC), told EurActiv in an interview.

Zagreb said it will share the EU legislation it has already translated into national law with other three post-Yugoslav countries, which are less advanced in their own accession processes, EurActiv has learned.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is yet to reach internal political consensus on its EU path, the head of the European Commission's delegation to the country, Ambassador Dimitris Kourkoulas, told EurActiv in an interview.