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Email this citationCIAO DATE: 07/04
Thessaloniki And After II: The EU and Bosnia
June 20, 2003
Abstract
Afflicted still by the physical, psychological and political wounds of war, and encumbered by the flawed structures imposed by the international community to implement peace, Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereafter: Bosnia) is not yet capable of plotting a strategy or undertaking the measures likely to win it membership in the European Union (EU). Yet the government announced on 10 April 2003 that its major policy goal is to join the EU in 2009, in the blind faith that the processes of European integration will themselves provide Bosnia with remedies for its wartime and post-war enfeeblement. The Thessaloniki summit meeting between the heads of state or government of the EU members and the Western Balkan states to be held on 21 June is likely to throw some cold water on their ambitions.
Bitter memories of Western European complicity in and indifference towards Bosnia 's wartime tragedy remain strong among many of the country's citizens, particularly Bosniaks. The EU countries' stringent visa regimes provide a continuing and humiliating reminder that Bosnians are not fully welcome in Europe's more prosperous half. The ever-tougher and more complicated requirements set by the European Commission (EC) if Bosnia is to edge towards a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) may be meant as incentives, but look too often like barriers. And, of course, the dire state of the country's economy inspires little hope that actual accession can come in time to win plaudits for any politicians now active.
