The EU's senior diplomats must make a choice on how to prevent Bosnia and Herzegovina from coming apart, according to the EU's top diplomat.
When it comes to Bosnia and Herzegovina, EU foreign ministers have discussed methods to alleviate tensions and prevent the possible disintegration of the ethnically split Balkan country as the peace accord negotiated more than 25 years ago continues to disintegrate.
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EU foreign policy director Josep Borrell warned on Monday in Brussels, where he presided over a meeting of the 27-member bloc's foreign ministers, that "nationalist and separatist discourse is spreading in Bosnia and Herzegovina and jeopardizing the stability and even the integrity of the country."
"[The] ministers will have to make a decision on how to put a halt to these dynamics in Bosnia and Herzegovina and prevent the country from falling apart in pieces," he added. "We are in a precarious situation."
The United States slapped fresh sanctions against Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik last month. Dodik has long advocated for the separation of the Serb-run part of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the rest of the nation and the union with neighboring Serbia.
The United States accused him of engaging in "corrupt actions" that threaten to destabilize the area and undermine the Dayton Peace Accord, which was negotiated by the United States. Dodik claims that he and other Bosnian Serbs are being unfairly singled out and wrongfully accused of being corrupt.
The peace accord signed in 1995 brought an end to the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people and forced millions to flee their homes. The agreement formed two independent governing entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina: the Republika Srpska, which is administered by Bosnia's Serbs, and the other, which is dominated by Bosniaks, an ethnic group that is predominantly Muslim, and Croats, as well as other minorities.
The two are linked by institutions that are shared by the entire state, and all decisions taken at the national level require unanimous approval from all three ethnic groups.
However, Hungary, Croatia, and Slovenia have expressed strong opposition to any move to put restriction measures on Dodik. These nations are likely to sabotage any attempt to impose restrictive measures on Dodik.
"The pronouncements of Dodik and the Republika Srpska are highly hazardous and play with the integrity of the state, and this is a no-go for us," stated Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.
He expressed concern that Bosnia and the Balkans should not be turned into "a playground for actors from outside Europe." The Russian government has made it clear that it would help Dodik and his friends.
The EU is also pressing for the passage of electoral reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina before the country's elections later this year.
According to Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, what the EU wants to see is "a comprehensive reform package negotiated and executed in advance of the polls so that we can hold elections that result in the creation of a government that can operate successfully."
"We want to see peace and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and I believe that the reform package would be a significant contribution to achieving that goal," Coveney told reporters.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
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