European Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi traveled to Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday and Thursday (November 24 to 25) in an effort to resolve the country’s ongoing political crisis, which was launched in 1992- After the bloody war of 1995, it broke down again along the ethnic boundaries.
When EURACTIV asked if there were any specific results of the visit, a spokesperson for the European Commission stated that they “cannot prejudge the discussion.”
Last summer, when the leadership of the Republika Srpska in one of the two post-war Bosnian entities announced a boycott of the united central agency that had united the country since the 1995 Tunisian peace agreement, the crisis of secession escalated.
This move is in response to the outgoing senior international envoy Valentin Inzko’s decision on July 23 to ban denial of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Serb leaders consider this to be unacceptable. of.
The Office of the High Representative (OHR) responsible for implementing the peace agreement has the power to enforce decisions or fire officials.
Inzko’s successor, Christian Schmidt, has since warned that the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina has deteriorated. The leader of the Republic of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik promised to separate and establish an army independent of the national coalition forces, emphasizing at this point.
Croatia requirements
The loose central institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina formed an unstable state alliance between the Republic of Serbia and another entity, the Federation of Bosnia and Croatia.
Any political solution must take into account the requirements of Croatia’s largest political party HDZ and its leader Dragan Čović. Although he claims to be supported by the majority of Croatians, he is not a current member of the country’s tripartite presidium representing the Bosnian Croats, Croatia People and Serbs.
HDZ refused to recognize the current Croatian representative Željko Komšić, saying that he was elected by Bosnian votes.
Čović and HDZ have been calling for a thorough reform of the electoral law in order to strengthen the position of Croats in federal elections, where Bosniacs hold a considerable majority.
Political groups in the European Parliament are also divided on the issue of whether to recognize HDZ’s claims.
Member of the European Parliament Andrey Kovatchev (Andrey Kovatchev), representing the largest Christian and conservative European People’s Party (EPP) in the European Parliament, said: “In order to ensure peace and stability, the three communities must be represented in a fair manner.” .
“This is why there is an urgent need to amend the electoral law to provide Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina with equal opportunities to represent the other two communities,” he said at the plenary session of the parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday (November 23) ).
At the same time, the much smaller Green Party has been calling for the phasing out of race-based logic.
“I urge the European Union and the entire international community not to compromise on such much-needed democratic reforms and eventually break away from the racial lines,” said Tineke Strik, a member of the European Parliament.
Sanction or no sanction?
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, Anže Logar, who is the rotating presidency of the European Council, said: “The recent blockade of state institutions is unacceptable.”
He told lawmakers in Tuesday’s debate: “The political leaders of Bosnia and Herzegovina need to prioritize the resolution of the deadlock and refocus their efforts to advance reforms, which will enable the country to move forward on its EU road.”
So far, the EU has serious criticize Because of its weak response to the crisis, Washington, which has largely abandoned the region after the war, now seems more keen to play an active role.
During the Brussels (November 15) meeting, the EU foreign ministers discussed the situation in Bosnia, but no concrete results were achieved.
The issue of whether to impose sanctions on Dodic also caused disagreements in the EU, but only Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany and the Czech Republic support this idea, which is far from the necessary 15 EU countries.
In contrast, the United States has taken a more confident role. Gabriel Escobar, the U.S. envoy for the Western Balkans, accused Dodick of instigating a new crisis to “protect his power and money.” Recent interview With Radio Free Europe.
However, differences in sanctions among EU countries are also reflected in the European Parliament, which did not mention sanctions in the debate on Tuesday.
The Green Party is a staunch supporter of sanctions and also received support from the Social Democrats and liberals, but failed to make a resolution on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the agenda of the plenary meeting this week.
“The EU cannot remain silent,” said Pedro Marques, a member of the Social Democratic Party, during the parliamentary debate on Bosnia.
He added: “It must use all means to play a stronger role, including pressure and even sanctions, in order to maintain the territorial integrity, unity and peace of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
Klemen Grošelj, a member of the Slovenian European Parliament organized by the liberal Renew, responded: “Our Euro-Atlantic friends and the European Union need to take immediate action, including sanctions. Sanctions should also be on the table.”
Another way to put financial pressure on Dodik is to reduce EU financial assistance to countries waiting to join the club.
However, this requires the political push of the Várhelyi Commissioner’s Cabinet, which has always been Accused of crime Supporting the EU bid for Serbia, Dodik’s ally, and downplaying Belgrade’s concerns about democracy.
Unlike Serbia, which is already undergoing accession negotiations, Bosnia and Herzegovina has applied for accession but has not yet become an official candidate country.
After the most recent trip to Bosnia, European Parliament Member Strick told reporters that Wahli refused to transfer responsibility for the crisis to Milorad Dodik.
“He said,’Look, I think this is actually caused by the EU, because we have not given any views, so we should open up new [negotiating] Serbia cluster,” the Ministry of Green and Environmental Protection recounted her recent meeting with the commissioner.
She added that Várhely is actually “one of the people who support Dodik and the Serbs”.
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]
