Ashton says Bosnia lacks progress on reform
Catherine Ashton - Photo European External Action Service
(SARAJEVO) - EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Thursday that Bosnia has done little, if anything, recently to carry out reforms needed for it to eventually join the European Union.
During a visit to Sarajevo, Ashton urged Bosnia's leaders in particular to end political discrimination against minorities, such as Jews and Roma.
"I'm really disappointed that no real progress has been made since I last came here" in October 2012, Ashton told reporters after meeting members of Bosnia's tripartite presidency.
"The political parties have not turned their declared commitment into concrete action. Instead it seems that they focused on party and ethnic interests."
Ashton insisted that the former Yugoslav republic amend its constitution to stop discrimination against Jews and Roma after it was labelled discriminatory by the European Court of Human Rights.
"The issue of implementing ... (the tribunal's) judgement will not go away. It will get bigger and it will become more urgent and only progress on its implementation would allow ... this country to submit a credible (EU) membership application."
Ashton, who is on a tour of the Balkans, urged Bosnian leaders to "take responsibility together and act."
Under the internationally-brokered peace deal that ended Bosnia's 1992-1995 war, only its Muslims, Croats and Serbs are considered "constituent peoples" with the right to apply for top state and legislative positions.
In 2009, the Strasbourg-based European court ruled that this discriminated against other ethnic groups, notably Jews or Roma.
Bosnia, which has been trailing behind its former partners in the ex-Yugoslavia on their path to join the European Union, has yet to apply as a candidate for membership.
Neighbouring Croatia will become the bloc's 28th member on July 1.
Tiny Montenegro began talks last year, while Serbia and Macedonia have obtained candidacy status but have yet to begin membership talks.
From Sarajevo, Ashton travelled to the eastern town of Srebrenica where she visited the memorial to the victims of the 1995 genocide.
In July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces killed and dumped in mass graves some 8,000 Muslim men and boys, in the worst massacre in Europe since World War II.
Ashton, who also visited the memorial museum in Srebrenica, made no statements.
Meanwhile, Ashton's visit to Croatia later on Thursday was postponed due to "intensive efforts on Belgrade-Pristina dialogue," her spokeswoman told AFP.
Kosovo and Serbia were to resume talks in Brussels on Friday following another failure to clinch a deal to normalise ties and ease tension in the Balkans.