VS: banden ophalen met Bosnië-Herzegovina (en)
US vice president Joe Biden on Tuesday (19 May) urged the politicians of Bosnia and Herzegovina to get their country back on the EU integration track, warning that the alternative would be for Bosnia to be again plunged into "ethnic chaos."
"The door is open for the countries of this region for the first time in history to be an integral part of a free Europe. The US will help you walk through that door," Mr Biden said in a speech in Bosnia's parliament on Tuesday.
As for all the western Balkan countries, Bosnia's goal is to ultimately join the EU. It signed a pre-accession deal with the bloc in June of last year, and its foreign minister last month said he thought full EU membership could be achieved by 2015.
But separately from the reforms it still needs to implement, it is the country's politicians with their quarrels and nationalistic politics that are dangerously pushing Bosnia away from its EU path, the American vice president warned.
"You can follow this path to Europe or you can take an alternative path. You have done it before," he said in a reference to the war that ravaged Bosnia in 1992-1995.
"Failure to do so [follow the EU path] will ensure you remain among the poorest countries in Europe. At worst, you'll descend into ethnic chaos that defined your country for the better part of a decade," Mr Biden was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Bosnia and Herzegovina as it exists now – split into the two semi-autonomous entities of Republika Srpska, mainly populated by Serbs, and the Bosniak-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina – was created by the largely US-brokered Dayton peace agreements which ended the bloody war in the 1990s.
Inter-ethnic divisions have often stalled political and administrative reforms in the country since then, and the central institutions have been weak. But the situation has been worsening in the last couple of years in particular, notably due to the difficult relationship between some of the country's leaders.
Both the EU and NATO have in the last few months issued warnings to Bosnia, with the EU in the autumn of last year voicing concerns over Bosnian politicians' "inflammatory rhetoric" and saying it was ready to step up its presence in the country.
'This must stop'
During his speech in the Bosnian parliament, Mr Biden echoed these concerns.
"God, when will you tire of that rhetoric?," he said. "With all due respect, and forgive me for saying this in your parliament, but this must stop."
"Today, to be very blunt with you, I personally, and the leadership of my country is worried ... about the direction of your country and your future," he added.
The vice-president's three-day visit comes as the Obama administration has signalled a renewed interest in the Balkan region.
The US House of Representatives last week passed a resolution calling for constitutional changes in Bosnia, as well as for the appointment of a new US special envoy to the Balkans, who should work with the EU to boost reform implementation.
Mr Biden's Balkan journey will continue in Serbia on Wednesday, where he will be the most senior US official to visit the country in almost 30 years – since president Jimmy Carter visited the then Yugoslavia in June 1980, and where his visit is seen as a chance for a fresh start of the US – Serbia relations.
They have been particularly tense since the US-led NATO bombing of Serbia which in 1999 ended Belgrade's ruling of Kosovo, as well as due to Washington's backing and later recognition of Kosovo's independence.
Kosovo will be the final destination of the vice president's visit on Thursday.
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