Bosnia-EU agreement lost in translation
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The European Union will not sign an agreement on closer ties with Bosnia and Herzegovina this month as originally hoped due to translation issues, diplomatic sources have indicated.
Earlier this month, Bosnia approved long-disputed police reform, a move required by the EU in order for the country to take a step closer to membership of the bloc.
The EU had previously indicated that if the police reform were passed, it could sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) – a pact governing preliminary ties between the EU and Western Balkan countries – with Bosnia by the end of this month.
Signature could have taken place next week during a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
But this is not to happen as translation of the SAA into all 23 official EU languages has not been finalised yet, one EU diplomat told EUobserver.
During a meeting of diplomats on Monday (21 April), France, backed by Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic, rejected signing the SAA next week because it would mean signing the document in English, the diplomat added.
Consequently, Slovenia, holding the EU presidency, has withdrawn the issue from the table and the SAA with Bosnia not expected to sign before June.
Bosnia initialled its SAA with the EU last December, while Serbia did so in November. All the countries in the region except for Serbia, Bosnia and Kosovo, have already signed such deals.
Unlike Bosnia, Serbia will be on the agenda of the EU's foreign ministers meeting on Tuesday (29 April).
With less than two weeks left until the country's early elections, the bloc's diplomacy chiefs are expected to discuss ways to boost pro-European forces in Serbia. They are facing the country's nationalists on 11 May.
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