Paris, 3 June 2009 – The Assembly on Wednesday said it was against any premature reduction in troop numbers in operation EUFOR Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina given the deterioration in the political situation in the country and the continuing problems with separatists in Republika Srpska.

Presenting a report on ESDP and the future of the western Balkans on behalf of the Political Committee, Pedro Agramunt (Spain, Federated Group) spoke of the ongoing discussions in the international community “on the transition from the Office of the High Representative (established under the Dayton accords) to the EU Special Representative and on the reconfiguration of operation EUFOR Althea which is to be reduced from 2 000 to 200 troops”.

“I think that both changes are necessary to give the local authorities more autonomy in managing their country. But Bosnia also needs to be stabilised. It could be a disaster to reduce the presence and role of the international community at the present time”, he said. According to Mr Agramunt, the political situation had “deteriorated significantly” in Bosnia and Herzegovina last year, “plunging the country into the worst crisis since the end of the war in 1995”.

Summing up a “catalogue of disasters”, he cited the segregation in schools of pupils from different ethnic backgrounds, the widespread availability of small firearms and the “huge rift between the political elite and the population”. The Rapporteur added “it is not possible to predict what will happen in Republika Srpska where its leader, Milorad Dodik, is taking an increasingly hard line on secession”.

Reviewing the situation in Kosovo which is “completely dependent on the support of the international community”, the bilateral disputes between Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and between Slovenia and Croatia, Mr Agramunt was of the opinion that the international community “must not relax its efforts in the western Balkans”.

He said that beyond “the stabilisation of the security situation and in spite of the assistance provided over the last decade, results are disappointing” and called on the Balkan governments to prove “they can show initiative and be autonomous”. “Political reconciliation, economic, social and police reforms, the fight against crime and corruption must take absolute priority” he declared, adding that the EU’s door should not remain closed indefinitely to the other countries in the region after Croatia’s accession.

During the debate several speakers, in particular from countries in the region, stressed their determination to settle their differences and expressed their desire for all the western Balkan states to be offered a clear prospect of European integration. In reply to a question from the floor, Mr Agramunt said he felt that the “Serbian Government clearly wants to hand over General Ratko Mladic” against whom an arrest warrant has been issued by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for his role in the Srebrenica massacres.

Speaking on the margins of the debate, Mrs Ana Trisic-Babic, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, voiced her country’s firm commitment to implementing the reforms necessary for EU integration (cf. Press release No. 28).