Does Bosnia really want to join the EU? asks Brussels

(BRUSSELS) - EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn on Friday questioned Bosnia's desire to work towards EU membership, amid an impasse in talks on reforming the country's police force.

"I regret that yesterday evening the talks failed finally, after several weeks of hard efforts, and I regret that key party leaders have not shown the political will nor spirit of compromise necessary to reach a compromise and deliver on the citizens' aspiration for European integration," Rehn told reporters in Brussels.

"The political leaders of Bosnia-Hercegovina need to decide what direction they want their country to take," he added. "Do they really want to move forward on the road to Europe or instead stall and fall behind their neighbours?"

"They need to determine whether European integration is a real priority," the EU official insisted.

The top international envoy to Bosnia said on Thursday the country's leaders had failed again to agree on the key police reforms, which would delay signing of an association deal with the European Union.

The leaders had been given until October 15 to agree on the reforms or delay the signing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU for at least another year.

The SAA is a first step on a long road to membership of the 27-nation bloc.

Agreement has stalled as Bosnian Serbs in the former Yugoslav republic insist on control of their own police, while Muslims demand that regional forces be abolished and put under federal control.

Under the 1995 Dayton peace accord, Bosnia was divided into two entities, the Serb Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation. They are united by weak central institutions and each has its own police force.