Meinl-Reisinger travels to Sarajevo
Scheduled are meetings of the NEOS chairwoman with her Bosnian counterpart Elmedin Konaković and the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt. Meinl-Reisinger will also meet with the Bosnian Prime Minister Borjana Krišto and the German EU State Secretary Anna Lührmann (Green). A visit to the EU protection force EUFOR at Camp Butmir is also planned.
Recently, Meinl-Reisinger has advocated for sanctions against the pro-Russian president of the Serbian part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, whom she accuses of "clear violations of constitutional law." While the USA sanctions Dodik, joint EU sanctions have so far been prevented by a Hungarian veto. Last week, the Bosnian State Court issued an international arrest warrant against Dodik. Two weeks earlier, the prosecutor's office ordered the arrest of the President of Republika Srpska (RS) for contempt of the High Representative. Dodik had unilaterally declared the jurisdiction of the judiciary and police of the Bosnian central state for Republika Srpska to be terminated and is threatening to secede the region.
EUFOR Soldiers Increased
Due to tensions over the separatist efforts in the Serbian region, EUFOR was recently increased. Currently, the force numbers around 1,000 soldiers, with Austria being the largest contributor with 227 soldiers. The long-time former Bosnia envoy Valentin Inzko recently advocated in an APA interview for a stronger presence of EUFOR soldiers, especially in the northern Bosnian district of Brčko, to avert the threat of war. Inzko warns against "appeasement," meaning "a policy of yielding and further concessions" towards Dodik. "Those who want to destroy the state must face consequences," emphasized Inzko.
Since December 2022, Bosnia has had the status of an EU accession candidate. The European Union decided in March of the previous year to start accession negotiations. Austria supports the gradual integration of the Western Balkans into the EU, for which it also advocates in the group of states known as the "Friends of the Western Balkans." In addition to Austria, the group includes Italy, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
Bosnia and Herzegovina was divided in 1995 after the three-year war with more than 100,000 dead according to the Dayton Peace Agreement into the predominantly Bosnian Serb-inhabited Republika Srpska and the Croat-Muslim Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The two semi-autonomous regions are connected by a weak central government. The Dayton Agreement also enshrines the influential office of a UN High Representative, who oversees the peace treaty.
(APA/Red)
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