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Bosnia to Receive E.U. Grant for Reforms
SARAJEVO, Dec. 7 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The European Union and Bosnia, a nation still recovering from its 1992-1995 civil war, signed an agreement Friday worth 63.55 million euros ($56.7 million) in E.U. assistance to support democracy, justice and economic reform in the country.
Most of the aid would be earmarked to help stabilize the work of civic institutions and to support private enterprise, road and railway infrastructure improvement and social welfare programs.
The European Commission representative to Bosnia, Hansjorg Kretschmer, and Bosnian Prime Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija signed the agreement. The accord covers the last installment of an E.U. program to provide Bosnia this year with financial assistance worth 105 million euros.
A program of "stabilization and association" accords was established by the European Union during the 1999 crisis in Kosovo to cement stability in the volatile Balkans region by giving countries the prospect of long-term E.U. membership. Macedonia and Croatia have already signed the deal.
As a first step toward full participation in the effort, Bosnia is expected to join the Council of Europe - an alliance promoting human rights and the rule of law - early next year, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
After Bosnia fulfills additional conditions, the E.U. "could start with a feasibility study on negotiations on the [stabilization and association] agreement between the E.U. and Bosnia-Herzegovina," Kretschmer said. An accord could be signed in 2003 at the earliest.
Kretschmer reiterated the desire of the international community to see Bosnian authorities take greater responsibility for the management of their country.
The international community has pledged some $5.1 billion (5.7 billion euros) to the post-war reconstruction of Bosnia, but the country has so far failed to become self-sustainable economically and politically, analysts believe.
"If we see constructive cooperation and a drive forward on the side of the local authorities our assistance in the future will also be guaranteed," Kretschmer said.
Bosnia was torn apart by a war that saw mass killings of Muslims by Serbian forces in what could be deemed genocide by the current trials in The Hague against former leader Slobodan Milosevic.
The authorities in Yugoslavia, after ousting Milosevic last year, have obtained a two-thirds debt write off from the Paris Club of creditor nations and have strong backing for reforms.
French President Jacques Chirac, who began a two-day official visit to the region, heads one of the 18 nations in the Paris Club which decided in November to write off 66% of almost $4.5 billion (5.06 billion euros) of the debt which Yugoslavia owes the group.
"The political impact of such measure is important, it gives a credibility to the authorities in Belgrade and allow them to advance with reforms, notably to open it towards the international loans," a Western economist in Belgrade said.
"The Paris club's decision gave a click to creating a favorable environment for a return of foreign investments and financial viability" here, this expert said.
With the economy ruined by war and international sanctions in the past decade, Yugoslavia, which now groups Serbia and Montenegro, has become one of the most indebted nations in the world.
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