Bosnia: Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, warned Bosnian Serb leaders yesterday that their refusal to help create a multi-ethnic national police force could scuttle Bosnia's hopes of joining the EU.
The authorities in Republika Srpska again rejected plans last week to unite its police force with that of Bosnia's Muslim-Croat Federation, a move which Brussels calls fundamental to the Balkan nation's ambition of greater integration with the EU.
"I hope that Republika Srpska's leaders will soon make a decision that will ensure that Bosnia will not be excluded [ from European integration]," Mr Solana said in an interview with the Nezavisne Novine newspaper.
Republika Srpska's parliament is expected to debate police reform in an extraordinary session on May 30th.
"The parliament must decide whether this reform will be implemented and [ that would] open doors not only for Republika Srpska, but also for the whole of Bosnia, towards Europe," Mr Solana said.
On a visit to Sarajevo last week, a senior EU official said he could not recommend the start of associate membership talks with Bosnia until it implemented police reform and adopted a new law on public broadcasting.
"On these two points, decisions are not being taken. The European Commission will not be able to propose to member states the opening of stabilisation and association negotiations," said Reinhardt Priebe, head of the EU Commission directorate for enlargement in the western Balkans.
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/irishtimes/ceb3bdb4-5d67-4c65-b682-dcb6d954edb4.png)