EU wants greater role in Bosnia

EU officials are proposing the closure of the Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia-Herzegovina, according to the Reuters news agency. Reuters states that the role of the OHR would be taken over by the EU. EU wants greater role in Bosnia Ahead of the EU Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday, Foreign and Security Policies Chief Javier Solana and Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn have distributed drafts for terminating the OHR after 13 years of its existence. “The status quo is unsustainable and will probably remain so until the international community is ready to change the parameters of its presence and its approach,” the document states, according to Reuters. “The role of the international community remains key because there are no domestic forces that seem able to resolve the status quo and persuade the country’s administration to leave its current conflicts aside and replace them with a consensus for reforms related to EU integration,” the document states. Officials in Brussels add that “increased EU engagement is more important today than ever before.” “The EU must evaluate its role in the transition from the process led by the OHR towards greater Union engagement,” the EU document continues. According to Reuters, one unnamed foreign diplomat in Sarajevo said that there was a possibility that the EU special representative would be given some of the OHR’s authority, but only in special circumstances. “If, for instance, the country were to collapse, someone would have the mandate to put a stop to that,” that diplomat said. Reuters adds that the other issue being discussed is the fate of the peacekeeping forces left in Bosnia-Herzegovina. There are currently about 2,500 EUFOR soldiers there, compared to the 60,000 NATO troops deployed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia after the war in 1995. Reuters reports that France, which is currently presiding over the EU, is discussing the end of the EUFOR mission, but other countries want the mission to stay after the OHR is closed in order to help maintain stability in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

EU wants greater role in Bosnia

Ahead of the EU Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday, Foreign and Security Policies Chief Javier Solana and Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn have distributed drafts for terminating the OHR after 13 years of its existence.

“The status quo is unsustainable and will probably remain so until the international community is ready to change the parameters of its presence and its approach,” the document states, according to Reuters.

“The role of the international community remains key because there are no domestic forces that seem able to resolve the status quo and persuade the country’s administration to leave its current conflicts aside and replace them with a consensus for reforms related to EU integration,” the document states.

Officials in Brussels add that “increased EU engagement is more important today than ever before.”

“The EU must evaluate its role in the transition from the process led by the OHR towards greater Union engagement,” the EU document continues.

According to Reuters, one unnamed foreign diplomat in Sarajevo said that there was a possibility that the EU special representative would be given some of the OHR’s authority, but only in special circumstances.

“If, for instance, the country were to collapse, someone would have the mandate to put a stop to that,” that diplomat said.

Reuters adds that the other issue being discussed is the fate of the peacekeeping forces left in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

There are currently about 2,500 EUFOR soldiers there, compared to the 60,000 NATO troops deployed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia after the war in 1995.

Reuters reports that France, which is currently presiding over the EU, is discussing the end of the EUFOR mission, but other countries want the mission to stay after the OHR is closed in order to help maintain stability in Bosnia-Herzegovina.