Reuters AlertNet Lite - EU says will not withdraw in haste from Bosnia

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EU says will not withdraw in haste from Bosnia

10 Nov 2008 18:16:45 GMT
Source: Reuters

BRUSSELS, Nov 10 (Reuters) - The European Union will avoid any early withdrawal of its 2,500-strong military mission in Bosnia given the unstable political situation, the EU's presidency said on Monday.

The former Yugoslav republic, which was divided into a Serb Republic and a Muslim-Croat entity after the 1992-95 Bosnian war that killed about 100,000 people, is run by a weak central government and some Serbs favour secession.

"Everybody agrees that the main military job has been done but the political situation in Bosnia means we have to take our time," French Defence Minister Herve Morin, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said after a meeting of the bloc's defence and foreign ministers.

"The idea is that we would revisit this in March and decide whether or not the operation should be concluded," he told a news conference. "If there were to be a new operation it would focus on training and organisation of Bosnian forces."

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn circulated a proposal to start preparing the end of the 13-year-old international supervision of the country and work instead on an increased EU role.

Slovak diplomat Miroslav Lajcak serves as the international peace overseer of Bosnia as well as EU special representative. His role in the Office of the High Representative (OHR) gives him the power to fire Bosnian officials and strike down laws seen as endangering the 1995 Dayton peace accords that ended the Bosnian war.

"The status quo is unviable and likely to remain so until and unless the international community is prepared to change the parameters of its presence and approach," said the document, seen by Reuters.

"The EU should aim to be ready by mid 2009," the document said, adding that the date also depended on a decision by Bosnia's international overseers to close the international office.

A senior official of the European Commission, the EU's executive, said it was important that the EU military mission and police mission continue at least a certain period after the transition.

"It should continue with around the present numbers and working levels," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official said the EU force should stay on even after an international office overseeing the country closes and its work is transferred to an EU representative with fewer powers, which the EU hopes will be done in 2009.

International officials have expressed growing concern in recent months about separatist rhetoric coming from the Serb Republic, which some say portends future instability or could even reignite conflict in the Balkans.

Ethnic quarrels were among problems identified by the EU last week in its annual report on Bosnia's progress towards membership of the wealthy bloc.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Ingrid Melander; editing by Michael Roddy)

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