The European Union Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele told newly elected Bosnian leaders on Friday that they must put aside their differences and start implementing reforms, or their country risks being left behind in the EU integration process.
Sabina Arslanagic
“We lost some time….politicians here need to redouble efforts in order to not be left behind,” Fuele said.
He added that his visit to Bosnia was intentionally scheduled for less then a week after general elections in the country to deliver “important messages” to the newly elected representatives.
“No future can be based on differences… What is most important is to make the first step towards a functioning and effective state speaking with one voice,” he said.
According to the preliminary results of the general elections held in Bosnia last Sunday, the vote has produced more political deadlock as it again brought to the fore leaders and parties with completely opposite views on the country’s future.
While Bosniaks largely turned to moderate politicians who favour a more unified country, Croats and Serbs have re-elected their nationalist parties.
This is likely to delay the process of forming the country’s central government, and could make impossible the formation of a government able to effectively address the burning social and economic problems and reach compromises on reforms required by the EU.
If the separatist Croat and Serb parties which won their respective ethnic groups in a landslide join forces at the state level, they might form a powerful block that could effectively prevent all necessary reforms.
Fuele said that his message to the party leaders was clear: “Whatever coalitions you are going to make, whatever program you are going to agree on, please make sure that the European agenda is at the very center of it.”
Under the Dayton peace agreement which ended Bosnia's 1992-95 war, the country was split into two highly autonomous entities, the Serb majority Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat federation. The two entities are united by weak central institutions, but each has its own government, parliament and presidency.
The division of authority between the institutions of the two entities and the state remains unclear and each side has its own interpretation of how power should be distributed in the country.
Bosnian Serbs strongly reject any reforms that would diminish their autonomy; Bosniaks advocate centralization, while Croat opinion is split between those who are in favor of strengthening the state institutions and others who want the country further divided so that Croats can have an entity of their own.
The international community has long insisted that more powers be transferred to central institutions in order to make Bosnia more functional, but the country’s bickering ethnic leaders have failed for years to agree on even the most uncontroversial reforms.
However, Fuele said that his talks with political party leaders revealed that they all understood that “the elections have raised expectations among citizens, expectations for a better future.”
“We stand ready to strengthen the EU role in this country, but I stress first of all that the first step towards a functioning and more effective state, speaking with one voice, must be made by politicians here,” he added.
“We lost some time….politicians here need to redouble efforts in order to not be left behind,” Fuele said.
He added that his visit to Bosnia was intentionally scheduled for less then a week after general elections in the country to deliver “important messages” to the newly elected representatives.
“No future can be based on differences… What is most important is to make the first step towards a functioning and effective state speaking with one voice,” he said.
According to the preliminary results of the general elections held in Bosnia last Sunday, the vote has produced more political deadlock as it again brought to the fore leaders and parties with completely opposite views on the country’s future.
While Bosniaks largely turned to moderate politicians who favour a more unified country, Croats and Serbs have re-elected their nationalist parties.
This is likely to delay the process of forming the country’s central government, and could make impossible the formation of a government able to effectively address the burning social and economic problems and reach compromises on reforms required by the EU.
If the separatist Croat and Serb parties which won their respective ethnic groups in a landslide join forces at the state level, they might form a powerful block that could effectively prevent all necessary reforms.
Fuele said that his message to the party leaders was clear: “Whatever coalitions you are going to make, whatever program you are going to agree on, please make sure that the European agenda is at the very center of it.”
Under the Dayton peace agreement which ended Bosnia's 1992-95 war, the country was split into two highly autonomous entities, the Serb majority Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat federation. The two entities are united by weak central institutions, but each has its own government, parliament and presidency.
The division of authority between the institutions of the two entities and the state remains unclear and each side has its own interpretation of how power should be distributed in the country.
Bosnian Serbs strongly reject any reforms that would diminish their autonomy; Bosniaks advocate centralization, while Croat opinion is split between those who are in favor of strengthening the state institutions and others who want the country further divided so that Croats can have an entity of their own.
The international community has long insisted that more powers be transferred to central institutions in order to make Bosnia more functional, but the country’s bickering ethnic leaders have failed for years to agree on even the most uncontroversial reforms.
However, Fuele said that his talks with political party leaders revealed that they all understood that “the elections have raised expectations among citizens, expectations for a better future.”
“We stand ready to strengthen the EU role in this country, but I stress first of all that the first step towards a functioning and more effective state, speaking with one voice, must be made by politicians here,” he added.
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