David Miliband

Foreign Secretary

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Wednesday 08 October, 2008

Bosnia - not forgotten

The situation in Kosovo has been a particular focus recently, following its declaration of independence in February.  We've also closely watched the formation of a new pro-European government in Serbia. It's vital too to see the links across the wider Balkans. 

Yesterday the electorate in Bosnia took part in their latest round of municipal elections.  It's good that those elections went smoothly.  But what's concerning is that the election campaign saw political leaders continuing to focus on rhetoric rather than on reforms.  Instead of making progress on the key challenges Bosnia faces to move towards the EU, Bosnia's leaders have instead been questioning the very structure of the state (a structure set out in the Dayton Peace Agreement which, in 1995, ended the bloody conflict in Bosnia). 

Europe has a role to play.  That means supporting the efforts of the international community's most senior official in Bosnia, Miroslav Lajcak, to drive progress.  It also means urging Bosnia's politicians to do their bit in turning away from rhetoric and engaging together to drive the country forward.   Bosnia's been out of the headlines.  But, given the current challenges, it shouldn't be far from our minds.

Posted at 10:23 08 October 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[2]

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Excuse me for yet another comment on Balkans issues. I really am heartened by your determination not to let the achievements of the past decade unravel while Europe's attention is elsewhere. I'm glad to see you so clearly aware of the growing threat to Bosnia's national institutions that has been highlighted elsewhere by Paddy Ashdown in his "wake-up call" article in the Observer among others. It is essential that politicians in Sarajevo get their act together before Dodik and Republika Srpska fatally undermine prospects for a stable unified Bosnia. Karadzic may be at The Hague but he's left a toxic legacy behind him in Banja Luka. Lajcak needs to continue putting pressure on pushing all parties but he should never make the mistake of assuming that objectivity requires moral neutrality.

Posted by Owen on October 11, 2008 at 01:21 PM BST #

The Dayton Agreement did stop the was in Bosnia-Herzegovina, but did not provide the state with an executive authority capable of implementing policies, securing better future, guaranteeing positive peace. Bosnia, a country consisting of a joint Bosniak-Croat Federation and Bosnian-Serb governed Republika Srpska, requires huge attention. The disputable nature of the Dayton Agreement cannot be opposed - it created artificial borders within Bosnia, and thus stressed noticeable division within the state. The question of responsibility in this case is a conundrum, with opinion divided between the parties concerned. Nobody wants to see Bosnia dismembering: that would mean going back to the period of the collapse of Yugoslavia. It is true that while using the terminology of peace process and reconciliation, the international community has been involved in changing the country, although its presence has very often been perceived as an external imposition of what is to be done and what is not. Moreover, whether the EU-led mission in Kosovo or greater civil society involvement, or both, will be capable of playing the leading role in regard to peace and stability in the Balkans and thus in both post-independent Kosovo and post-Dayton Bosnia is a matter of predictability, currently in many circles considered a dangerous topic to discuss.

Posted by Branislav Radeljic on October 21, 2008 at 11:08 PM BST #

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