Bosnia 'fragile' after talks fail


Crisis talks aiming to end years of political stalemate among leaders of Bosnia's divided communities have ended with no tangible results.

The talks were called by the EU and US in a bid to bring in constitutional reform and prepare Bosnia for eventual EU and Nato membership.

But representatives of the three main ethnic groups rejected the proposals.

The talks failure leaves post-war Bosnia more fragile than ever, reports the BBC's Mark Lowen in Belgrade.

Fourteen years after Bosnia's devastating war of independence came to an end, there are fears that a new conflict could erupt.

Opposed concerns

Balkan-watchers say they are disappointed, but not surprised, at the breakdown of these talks, our correspondent says.

The initiative had aimed to lay the groundwork for closure of the Office of the High Representative, the top international body in the country, in order to allow Bosnia to move towards Nato and EU membership as a self-governing, unified state.

The Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) and Croats said the proposed reforms did not sufficiently strengthen state institutions.

But for the Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Milorad Dodik the package went too far.

The Bosnian Serbs strongly oppose any moves that would jeopardise their desire for more autonomy, and Mr Dodik said the proposal risked diluting the power of his part of Bosnia, the Republika Srpska.

The country is struggling to stay together, our correspondent says, and Mr Dodik has repeatedly called for a referendum on the right of his entity to secede.

'Paralysis'

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who was the first international high representative in Bosnia after the war, led the push to break the impasse.



He was joined by US Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg and Ollie Rehn, the EU's enlargement commissioner.

In a joint statement, Mr Bildt and Mr Steinberg insisted "limited progress" had been made, despite the apparent failure of the talks.

They called for some of the participants to show "greater determination and flexibility".

International diplomats are set to return to Bosnia in coming weeks to push for more negotiations.

The current high representative in Bosnia, Valentin Inzko, has described the situation in the country as serious.

"Bosnia is in a state of paralysis," he told the BBC ahead of the talks.

"Things are not moving at the moment. And I deeply regret all this nationalist rhetoric. It's not helpful, it's destructive and many, many wars have started with bad rhetoric. So we should really avoid it."

Under the 1995 Dayton peace accords which brought an end to the conflict, two separate entities were created in Bosnia - a Bosniak-Croat federation and a Serb republic.

They are linked by a common parliament, a three-member presidency and a council of ministers - but the division of authority remains unclear, and each side interprets it in different ways.

EU and US fail to break Bosnia deadlock
VALENTINA POP

22.10.2009 @ 09:16 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – A joint EU-US mediation effort aimed at ending years of political deadlock in Bosnia-Herzegovina ended on Wednesday (21 October) with no agreement on giving the central government a stronger role over the semi-independent Serbian and Muslim-Croat entities.

The talks were spearheaded by Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt, who used to be the first international high representative in Bosnia after the 1992-1995 war and is now chairing the EU presidency.

Together with the US deputy secretary of state Jim Steinberg and EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn, Mr Bildt tried to convince Bosnian leaders to approve a constitutional reform making the state more functional and preparing it for eventual EU and Nato membership.

But representatives of the three main ethnic groups – Serbs, Bosniaks and Croats - rejected the proposals.

"Although some limited progress has been made further discussions will be required... and some of the parties will need to demonstrate greater determination and flexibility," Mr Bildt and Mr Steinberg said in a joint statement after the inconclusive talks.

Experts from both the EU and US will return to Bosnia next week to continue negotiations.

When announcing the initiative at the beginning of this month, the EU and US expressed "serious concern" about the political gridlock and warned that Bosnia risked "falling behind the rest of the region."

One of the sticking points is the office of the international high representative who still has executive powers in the country. Both the EU and the US would like to see the Bosnian leaders take over more responsibility and use less nationalistic rhetoric in order for the office to be transformed in a normal diplomatic office of the EU, preparing and monitoring the country for membership.

But fourteen years after the end of a war which caused over 100,000 deaths and became infamous for the 'Srebrenica massacre', Bosnia seems to be still a long way from self-governance.

For Milorad Dodik, the Prime Minister of the Serb entity - Republika Srpska, the office's executive powers are 'non-transparent' and in violation of human rights, as he writes in a recent letter sent to Mr Bildt. The office of the high representative can remove from power any officials, elected or appointed, without any hearings or right for appeal, and did so with over 200 persons since 1997, as Mr Dodik complains.

Despite wanting to see the office's powers downgraded, Mr Dodik strongly rejected the legislative package put forward by the EU-US mediators, saying it risked diluting the power of Republika Srpska. In the past years, he had repeatedly called for a referendum on separating from the Bosnian federation.

As for the Bosniaks and Croats, they rejected the proposals for not going far enough in strengthening the state institutions.

Under the 1995 Dayton peace accords, two separate entities were created - the Bosnian-Croat federation and Republika Srpska - linked by a common parliament, a three-member presidency and a council of ministers. However, the division of powers remains unclear, especially with the office of the international representative in place, and each side interprets it the way it suits best its own interests.

Editorial: Paralysis in Bosnia

23 October 2009

Radovan Karadic, the infamous Serb leader during the 1992-95 Bosnian war, is to boycott his trial in The Hague. The tactic will not work. Whether in court or not, he will be tried on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, including complicity in the massacre of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica in 1995. Nearly 15 years on, it may be justice delayed, but it will be justice nonetheless — although the fact that he still has admirers in the Serbian part of Bosnia, the Republika Srpska, and that his military partner in crime, Ratko Mladic remains at liberty all these years, protected as he is by people with influence in the Serbian ministate, diminishes it considerably.

Of much greater importance is the political crisis in Bosnia. It threatens to trigger a new conflict.

The Dayton agreement, which put an end to the war, has passed its sell-by date. It was a necessary quick fix to end fighting in 1995 but it is no basis for a permanent solution. With considerable power in the hands of the high commissioner, an EU appointee, the country is not independent. Meanwhile, central institutions are weak, the Republika Srpska acts as if it had nothing to do with the rest of the country, and the Croats in the Muslim-Croat region, feeling that they got the worst of the Dayton deal, are increasingly resentful. There is political paralysis.

The US and the EU are trying to move the situation forward, and have been negotiating with all the parties, in part to make Bosnia a normal functioning state like any other, in part so that it can join the EU and NATO. Ironically, their efforts have exacerbated the problem. They want far more power transferred to the center. The Muslims and Croats support this — the latter who see it as a means of ensuring that no one group dominates politically — but the Serbs are adamantly opposed. They always wanted out of Bosnia and to join with Serbia proper; now they are using the talks to bring matters to a head. They threaten a referendum on secession, which would be won by a landslide. The consequences are frightening. There would be little the international community could do about it — neither the US nor the EU would dare refuse to recognize such a move if made through the ballot box. That could trigger conflict within the Muslim-Croat federation. The Croats would want out too. But there are no clear territorial divide in the federation — this area Muslim, that area Croat. There could soon be violence.

Other than leaving things as they are, it is difficult to see what can be done to prevent the descent into fresh conflict. But is the status quo any longer an option? The Serbs appear determined on their referendum.

This looks like a slow motion picture of a train crashing. The only hope lies with the EU. Most Bosnians — Serb, Muslim and Croat — would like to be part of it. If a special status could be devised, perhaps associate membership along with massive investment, it might be enough to avoid the inevitable crash. It would be unique, but then Bosnia is in reality an EU protectorate — and that is unique.

Ne mogu vjerovat, najrealniji i najobavješteniji komentar se nalazi u jednoj arapskoj tiskovini



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