Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann's Bookmarks tagged bosnia →  View Popular

<!-- Author Start --><!-- Author End -->

Bosnia was the last Balkan country to launch visa talks which will allow Bosnian citizens to travel unhampered within EU countries. 

The Commission will outline a roadmap towards full visa liberalisation in the coming weeks, said Commission Vice President Jacques Barrot, who remains in charge of transport until the new Italian Commissioner Antonio Tajani takes over next month when approved by Parliament, after his meeting with the Bosnian Prime Minister Nikola Spiric.

They finally accepted a compromise proposal offered by High Representative Miroslav Lajcak and envisioning the creation of seven state-level co-ordination bodies that will assume authority over the country's ethnically divided police forces within a year after the adoption of constitutional reform.

Favouring more centralisation of police, the ruling Bosniak Party of Democratic Action and the Serb Democratic Party are criticising the legislation, claiming it offers only "cosmetic" changes that will not improve security in BiH.

Earlier
Wednesday lawmakers in Bosnia's upper house definitively adopted the
police reforms, removing the last hurdle for the country to sign the
key pact on closer EU ties.

Two police reform bills passed by 10
to four votes, ending years of dispute among Bosnia's Croat, Muslim and
Serb leaders about the extent to which they should integrate the
country's separate ethnic police forces.

The lower house of the Bosnian parliament approved the reforms last week.

EU officials on Wednesday hailed Bosnia's
adoption of long-disputed police reforms, saying it opened the way for
the Baltic state to sign the first accord on the way to European Union
membership.

"I welcome the final adoption of the police reform
laws, which paves the way towards signing the Stabilisation and
Association Agreement (SAA)," EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn
said in a statement.

The SAA trade and aid pact "will not only
bring practical benefits in trade and thus for the economy of Bosnia
and Herzegovina, but it is also the gateway towards candidate country
status for EU accession," Rehn added.

In the end the EU and the Bosnian parliament accepted a reform which envisages setting up seven new state-level police coordination bodies, without immediately affecting the autonomy of police forces of the country's two highly autonomous post-war regions.

The adopted bills stipulate the new bodies will assume authority over separate police forces after a year, in a way defined by constitutional reform.

Bosnian initialled the SAA in December, and EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said last month that Brussels expected to fully sign the agreement with Bosnia in April, pending the implementation of the police reforms.

Bosnian lower-house lawmakers adopted the police reforms by 22 votes to 19 late Thursday.

The decision stills need confirmation in the upper house but that is considered a formality.

The EU presidency on Friday said it hoped to begin Bosnia's formal path towards European Union membership as soon as possible, after the country's lawmakers adopted a key police reform package.

"Police reform is the crucial step for Bosnia-Herzegovina which should allow the country to further progress on the path towards EU integration," the EU's Slovenian presidency said in a statement.

Stable Mates

by Amela Bulja and Armela Subasic

1 April 2008

The Bosnian integration chief sits down with TOL to discuss progress and obstacles on the path to the European Union.

SARAJEVO | Bosnians are waiting eagerly to see whether their country will ink an agreement with the European Union in the coming weeks to take a step closer to joining the European family.



In an interview with Transitions Online, Osman Topcagic, who heads the Bosnian Directorate for European Integration, said he is optimistic that despite some possible hiccups, a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) will be signed.

<!-- Author Start --><!-- Author End -->

A meeting of EU Foreign Ministers urged that, "important underlying problems remain and called upon all parties in Bosnia to work together in order to overcome them as soon as possible.”

Links

Regarding Bosnia, the Commission hopes that the Stabilisation and Association Agreement will be signed by EU ministers this April (EurActiv 29/02/08). Rehn said the main condition, cooperation with the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), had reached "a generally satisfactory level". 

Rehn also reiterated the clear membership perspective for Kosovo and Serbia, saying that the latter plays a "key role" in the region. The Commissioner, however, urged Serbia to reaffirm its European commitment, responding to moves by leading Serbian politicians to reject deeper EU relations unless the bloc supports Serbia's claim to Kosovo. 

In order to complete the signing, Bosnia must implement them and show progress in reforming public media and cooperation with The Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal.

However, the leaders of ruling Croat, Muslim and Serb parties are yet to agree on laws defining the police reforms.

Post-war Bosnia consists of two entities -- the Serbs' Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation. Each has its own government, parliament and police.

The funds are for the 2007-2011 period and are meant to help implement reforms needed to meet EU standards and help Bosnia make progress in EU integration, said Mirel.

The grant comes under EU pre-accession funds available after Bosnia in December initialled its Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), seen as the first step towards full EU membership.

<!-- Author Start --><!-- Author End -->