About: Bosnia-Herzegovina
Opening Pandora’s Box: The EU’s dangerous Bosnia game
EU leaders should reject any new talk of ethnic division and secession in the western Balkans and finally make good on their promises to the region's nations, write Tineke Strik and Viola von Cramon-Taubadel.
Six member states urge EU to re-focus on Bosnia
Six southern and eastern EU countries are asking the bloc's foreign ministers to focus on Bosnia-Herzegovina and help the barely functioning Western Balkan country implement key reforms that should boost its dwindling EU membership bid and ease simmering tensions in the region.
Erdogan visits Bosnia as part of bigger game
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) this week. The primary aim was to attend a summit, but analysts said it was also an effort to boost his hunt for members of the Gülen movement and reinforce his influence on Bosnian domestic politics.
Western Balkans pump subsidies worth €1.2 billion into coal
Western Balkan countries, which have set their sights on EU membership, are still propping up coal power with large public subsidies worth more than €1.2 billion, a new report revealed on Monday (25 March). The subsidies are not in line with EU regulations or decarbonisation efforts.
Croatian ombudswoman to report police treatment of migrants to EU institutions
Croatia's ombudswoman requested access to records on the treatment of migrants at the police station in Donji Lapac, central Croatia, in September but was refused. The relevant parliamentary committee does not seem to care either. EURACTIV Croatia reports.
Western Balkans remain in standby mode
EU members want to take their time with a new round of enlargement - something that the Western Balkans summit this Thursday (17 May) in Sofia is unlikely to change. EURACTIV Germany’s partner Der Tagesspiegel reports.
Defeating extremism in the Balkans
As a region deeply connected to the EU, the Western Balkans should no longer be forgotten. With Austria’s upcoming presidency of the EU, it is high time to reboot the region’s economic development and its integration into the Union, as well as recognise its progress in countering terrorism, writes Peter R. Neumann.
Kosovo adds dissonance to Balkan cacophony
The visit to Belgrade by the three members of Bosnia-Herzegovina's presidency was expected to warm up relations between the two countries, which had soured after the Bosniak presidency member said his country should recognise Kosovo, Serbia's former province.
EU’s Turkish voters backed Erdogan’s reforms
The European Union’s Turkish diaspora voted overwhelmingly in favour of granting Turkey’s president more power in Sunday’s (16 April) constitutional referendum.
What’s in a name?: Macedonia’s problems go much deeper
Deadlines continue to come and go with wearisome rapidity in the ongoing political crisis between the two majority ethnic political parties of Macedonia, writes Richard Howitt MEP.Mogherini says Bosnia’s EU application is ‘good news’
Bosnia and Herzegovina today (15 February) formally submitted an application to join the EU, hoping to catch up with its Balkan neighbours after years lost following the bloody break-up of Yugoslavia.
Srebrenica families ask pan-Europe court to try Dutch commanders
The families of three Bosnian Muslims who were killed after leaving UN protection in 1995 have asked the European Court of Human Rights to prosecute three ex-UN commanders for their deaths, their lawyer said Sunday (25 October).
Tensions high between Bosnia and Serbia on massacre anniversary
Commemorations of the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre have stirred old ghosts in the Balkans, and shown that reconciliation is still a delicate process. EURACTIV Serbia reports.
Governments lower roaming charges in Western Balkans
Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia signed an agreement in Budva on 29 September, reducing roaming prices based on the EU model. BETA/EURACTIV Serbia reports.
Planned Balkan coal plants may breach EU pollution limits
A new wave of coal plants in aspirant EU member states, authorised by the Energy Community, risk breaching EU pollution limits if they proceed according to their stated plans, an EU law firm says.
Tripartite Bosnian representation exasperates FIFA and UEFA
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) could be excluded from playing international football. In football as in politics, the country is represented by its three ethnic entities, but international football bodies FIFA and UEFA have warned that the relationship is unmanageable.
EU-Bosnia and Herzegovina relations
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.
Bosnia stalemate turning into ‘frozen conflict’
The political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is "extremely worrisome" and now appears to be turning into a "dormant frozen conflict," Hido Biš?evi?, secretary-general of the Regional Cooperation Council for South Eastern Europe (RCC), told EURACTIV in an interview.
EU-Serbia relations
Serbia, the 'core country' of the former Yugoslavia, is now firmly on track to join the EU after a series of fratricidal wars in the nineties tested the international community's resolve and engaged considerable diplomatic and military resources.Making Bosnia and Herzegovina’s transformation irreversible
Despite the success of recent reforms and a burgeoning economy, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) has yet to overcome a number of hurdles on its path to EU accession, argues Lidija Topic in a June 2008 policy brief for the European Policy Centre.
EU moves on with Balkan countries despite treaty setback
The EU yesterday (17 June) opened two new pre-EU accession negotiation chapters with Croatia and Turkey, just one day after the Union's foreign ministers signed an important pre-accession agreement with Bosnia, attenuating fears that the Irish referendum could have a negative impact on the bloc's enlargement process.
EU starts visa talks with Bosnia
The Commission today (26 May) officially launched talks with Bosnia over a visa-free regime, while 16 June was identified as the official day for the eventual signature of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), seen as a key step towards EU membership.
Vote for police reform brings Bosnia closer to EU
With a vote in the Bosnian parliament yesterday (16 April) to reform the country's police forces, the Balkan state cleared the final hurdle towards signing a pre-membership deal with the EU.