THE EU's plan to hand the Bosnian town of Mostar over to a local administration in 12 days' time is in serious doubt amid continuing deadlock between the city's Croats and Muslims over who should run it.
The Tanaiste, Mr Spring, had two hours of talks in Sarajevo last night with senior political figures to resolve the problem. It is Mr Spring's first major foreign visit of Ireland's EU Presidency.
After meeting Bosnian President Mr Alija Izetbegovic and the President of the Muslim-Croat Federation, Mr Kresimir Zubak, he said there were worries that the results of recent elections in Mostar had not been accepted by all the parties.
Mostar, where Croats and Muslims live in segregated areas, has been under EU administration for two years. Elections held to days ago were supposed to produce a local administration. Muslim and Croat parties each won roughly half the seats on the town council and the two sides have shown no sign of agreeing to elect a mayor or running the town as an entity.
Local Croats have alleged irregularities in the ballot, although the EU regards it as having been successful With the EU due to pull out on July 23rd, a dangerous political vacuum could emerge which could result in a resumption of violence.
Next Monday's meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels will consider what to do. It is likely to seek to extend EU involvement in Mostar, possibly by sending a special representative there to get involved in the search for an agreed administration.
During his meetings in Sarajevo Mr Spring also discussed concerns that Bosnia has not developed a fully-independent media in advance of the elections next September. He told reporters that while there was no difference between the EU and President Izetbegovic on the principle of open media, there were different views on which media should be funded.
The EU supports the proposal that five local independent television stations in Bosnia should be merged into one station free of government control. This is to ensure access to the media for opposition political parties.
Today, Mr Spring will visit an Irish aid-funded TB clinic in Sarajevo before going to Zagreb for talks with the Croatian President, Mr Franjo Tudjman, and to Belgrade to meet the Serbian President, Mr Slobodan Milosevic.