Discussions cruciales entre la Bosnie-Herzégovine, l’UE et les Etats-Unis[en] 

The 1995 Dayton peace agreement, negotiated with the USA, Russia and the EU, put an end to a three-and-a half-year war in Bosnia that took the lives of more than 100,000 people and displaced 1.8 million. 

Since then, the country's management has been propped up by the West, through the office of the high representative of the international community. 

Local elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina held in October 2008 confirmed deep ethnic divisions within the Balkan country, which is seen as a natural candidate for EU accession (EurActiv 06/10/08). 

Serb, Muslim and Croat nationalists obtained high scores in the race for mayorships in the country's 149 municipalities, following a campaign marked by nationalist rhetoric and lack of interest in the real problems faced by citizens. The poll was also marred by vote selling. 

EU leaders have repeatedly warned Bosnia and Herzegovina that continued political in-fighting between Serb, Muslim and Croat nationalists is driving the country away from the closer relationship with the Union to which its citizens aspire. 

Recently, the EU special representative to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Valentin Inzko, warned member states against phasing out the Union's peacekeeping mission to the Balkan country, EUFOR, which comprises 2,000 troops. 

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg initiated talks with Bosnia's leaders in early October on ways to overcome a deadlock that could jeopardise stability in the country and the wider region. 

On Monday, they handed over to the leaders a "comprehensive reform package," including measures to end Bosnia's status as an international protectorate and make constitutional changes that would speed up integration with the European Union. 

Bosnia's rival ethnic groups fought a three-year war from 1992 to 1995 in which 100,000 people were killed. The conflict, Europe's worst since World War Two, ended with the Dayton peace accords that created two autonomous regions, the Muslim-Croat federation and Republika Srpska (Serb Republic). 

Local politicians immediately criticised the latest proposed reforms, with the loudest disapproval coming from Bosnian Serbs who fear an erosion of their autonomy. 

"We said 'no' and we shall say 'no' each time a fundamental position of Republika Srpska has been questioned," Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik said. 

Officials warned without a deal, Bosnia was facing isolation in a region where other countries are moving towards EU membership. 

'Last chance'

"This is not business as usual," said EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn. "This is the last chance for this generation of Bosnian politicians to put Bosnia-Herzegovina on the European path." 

Rivalry between Bosnia's two ethnic entities has deepened in recent months, effectively blocking the work of the central government and reforms needed for EU and NATO integration. 

Separatist Serbs have openly confronted Bosnia's international peace envoy, challenging his role and decisions and threatening to hold a referendum on secession from Bosnia. 

While Serbs complained about "dramatic changes to the Dayton constitution," as Dodik described it, the Bosnian Muslims and Croats found the proposed reforms inadequate. 

"The document is absolutely unacceptable," said Bosnian Croat leader Dragan Covic. "We cannot have a two-entity structured Bosnia-Herzegovina," he told the Dnevni Avaz daily. 

Bosnian Muslim leader Haris Silajdzic also said the reform package was unacceptable. Only Sulejman Tihic, the head of the largest Muslim party, the SDA, said the document was a "good starting point and step forward". 

(EurActiv with Reuters.)