Bosnia and Herzegovina in the process of stabilization. European missions fall back
(BRUSSELS2) Bosnia-Herzegovina is today the Achilles' heel of the European policy of stabilization in the Balkans. This country which was the "heart" of the former Yugoslavia, the most torn place of the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, finds itself today stuck behind in inextricable political and ethnic difficulties which go back to the Dayton Accords in 1995.
The EU has two missions: one is military, Eufor Althea, which has the possibility of using force (executive mission, type of article 7 of the UN charter) and must be reconfigured into a non-executive mission (which is not not without difficulty, read Failure of the Swedish presidency on Althea Bosnia); the other aims to provide Bosnia and Herzegovina with an effective and pluralist police force (MPUE / EUPM). It is this last mission that deserves a little more attention today. For what ? Because it is of strategic importance. We must avoid recreating a zone of no mans land at European level, with a weak state, endemic corruption, mafia networks and a police force divided into tight zones. Bosnia will be a member of the European Union in a few years (not immediately like Croatia, but by 2020 at the latest). And it is urgent to act on this plan, to avoid ending up with a Bulgarian situation, where the country lives under permanent control of Brussels and where half of its ruling political class is devalued by affairs of all kinds.
EUPM has just acquired a new organization and reconfigured itself to carry out other tasks. A facelift in size (fewer men) and in objectives (more concentrated on organized crime).
The EUPM people had invited me to come and see them. I was stuck in Brussels for various reasons (including the European Council). Also, (once will not hurt!), is it a colleague who left on the spot. You will therefore be able to read these reportage papers soon - another look no doubt -, embellished, as usual on this blog, with various elements of context.
(NVP)
To be continued !
You can also read (already published):Failure of the Swedish Presidency on Althea Bosnia (update)
