Verenigde Staten en Europese Unie vragen Bosnië naar stand van zaken bij hervormingen (en)

The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, (c), and the US Deputy Secretary of State, Jim Steinberg, (l), are received by the President of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Haris Silajdzic, (r), upon their arrival in Sarajevo, (Bosnia). EFE

The Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, representing the European Union, and the US Deputy Secretary of State, Jim Steinberg, today began a two-day visit to Sarajevo in order to request that Bosnia make progress in its reforms if it does not wish to fall behind on the road to European Union accession.

Moratinos and Steinberg met with the three-member Bosnian presidency, the collegial leadership of the country consisting of a Muslim, a Serb and a Croat, and with the international community's high representative for Bosnia, Valentin Inzko.

"The situation in Bosnia is worrying and the October elections represent an opportunity for this tendency to change", stated Inzko after the meeting.

According to information given by the tripartite Bosnian presidency, Moratinos expressed the EU's support for Bosnia during the meeting, at the same time as asking for more progress from the country in its pro-European reforms.

The Spanish minister referred to a conference to be held in Sarajevo in early June, dedicated to the Western Balkans, in which EU and US representatives will participate.

The presidential trio expressed its concern over the growing "scepticism" in Bosnia regarding admission to the EU and NATO, after stressing that full Euro-Atlantic integration is the country's main strategic objective.

Tomorrow, Moratinos and Steinberg are due to have meetings with the leaders of the main Muslim, Serb and Croat political parties in order to address the situation and to encourage an environment of dialogue in Bosnia, before speaking to the press at the end of the visit.