An unofficial European Union diplomatic note seen by Reuters about redrawing borders along ethnic lines in the Western Balkans has caused fear and distress in Bosnia, which fears an unexpected shift in EU strategy.
The document was first leaked to Slovenian media and attributed to Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who reportedly sent it to European Council President Charles Michel as a proposal on how to deal with the region after Slovenia’s presidency from the EU in July.
But Jansa denied sending the document and accused ‘fake media’ of harming Slovenian efforts to help the western Balkan states integrate into the wealthy bloc.
The EU did not comment, but a Brussels diplomat told Reuters that EU member states have not discussed the newspaper.
Reuters has failed to verify the authenticity of the diplomatic note, although it circulates through official EU channels and has been seen by many EU diplomats and officials.
The newspaper argues that the main obstacles to faster EU integration of the Balkan states are the unresolved national problems of Serbs, Croats and Albanians, to be resolved by creating a Greater Serbia, a Greater Albania and a Greater Croatia .
The document proposes that the Autonomous Serbian Republic of Bosnia be merged with Serbia, the Croatian-dominated cantons of Bosnia be integrated into Croatia, and Kosovo be merged with Albania.
“We have never seen this proposal if it exists,” the Bulgarian EU spokesperson told Reuters in Brussels.
Such diplomatic notes are common in EU policy-making. Although they are not made public, EU states are generally happy to claim ownership when they write them.
In Bosnia, where 100,000 people died in nearly four years of war in the 1990s, in which Serbs and Croats wanted to form their own ethnic status, the note was seen as a new threat to territorial unity, this time by a number of EU countries. member countries.
Sefik Dzaferovic, the Bosnian member of Bosnia’s three-way inter-ethnic presidency, told Michel in a letter Friday that the document has caused instability and distress in Bosnia, where Bosnian Serbs have spoken for years about their region’s secession from Bosnia.
Dzaferovic urged Michel to immediately put an end to initiatives that could spark another war in the region.
The EU delegation in Bosnia sought to calm the situation by saying in a statement: “The EU is unequivocally committed to the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. … this is our firm … and unchanged position. “.
German Minister of Europe Michael Roth wrote on Twitter Friday: “Countries on #WesternBalkans only have a future as multi-ethnic and multi-religious societies. Regional reconciliation and cooperation are the keys to peace, democracy and prosperity. Pushing new borders is a dangerous path. . “
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