Leaders of Bosnia’s six main parties have failed to reach agreement on ways to implement a 2009 European Court of Human Rights ruling on rights of ethnic minorities to allow them to be elected to high public offices. The European Court of Human Rights ruling, brought by Jew and a Roma, called on Bosnia and Herzegovina to change its constitution to allow ethnic minorities, as well as main ethnic groups (Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats), to compete for high public offices including for the Presidency and federal parliament.

Case applicants were President of the Jewish Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dr. Jakob Finci and one of the most prominent representatives of the Roma community, Dervo Sejdic. To the broader public this ruling is known as “Sejdic-Finci” ruling and it is one of the heaviest obstacles on the Bosnia’s road to European Union. This is another example of breach of rights, especially when it comes to the state of the Roma population in Bosnia, which is the largest unemployed, most uneducated and most unprotected minority group, with an overall population of close to 100,000 people.

Under Bosnia’s current constitution, integral part of Dayton Peace Agreement, and electoral law, all three members of the Presidency are chosen directly. Serbs are represented by a representative from...More >>

In Kosovo, we’re still watching same scenes we saw in 1989, 1990 or 1999. There are barricades. “Peaceful” people empowered with stones and firearms face off against well-armed KFOR soldiers. Governments engage in “negotiations”. Foreign leaders try to pick sides.

Some positive moves were made in the last day or two when the Serbs opened some roads allowing international peacekeeping forces to access their bases and to fulfill duties assigned by United Nations and NATO. Some commentators say that move is the result of blackmail schemes from foreign leaders forcing Serbia to recognize Kosovo as independent state. The plot is supposed to include German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Merkel recent spoke in the Serbian capital of Belgrade regarding need of better relations between official Belgrade and Pristina. Her words carry weight, since Merkel’s government was and it is one of those who recognized Kosovo. She’s advocating for further recognition, maybe because that will help Germany’s public image or to score some political points as one of the strongest and loudest EU leaders. She may want better relations between Thaci’s and Tadic’s government for perfectly rational reasons: the less conflict, the less danger to Germany's soldiers stationed in Kosovo.

Germany is the strongest nation represented in KFOR. Recently these soldiers wereattacked, injured and threaten by those who...More >>

The Western military alliance NATO wants to bring the Western Balkan countries as member states in the near future. Indeed, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen seems passionately devoted to this issue. Two out of six former Yugoslavian republics have already joined the NATO pact. The remaining four are in pre-membership bodies hoping to one day gain entry.

For Bosnia, Montenegro and Macedonia, the road to NATO membership seems fairly straightforward and achievable. Practical requirements are closely connected with reforms in military organization, legislature, budgetary reform and reaching technical readiness to be in line with highest NATO standards. These three countries are receiving financial and expert help from NATO, and it is expected that all of them will be welcomed to the organization in the next two to four years.

But in the case of Serbia, probably the second or even the strongest military force in the Western Balkans, the hurdles to NATO membership are not technical, but ideological and historical. Serbia may never become a NATO member -- though if it did, it might carry benefits for the entire Balkan region.

A few months ago, Russian PM Vladimir Putin visited Serbia and issued a clear...More >>

Russian Premier and former President Vladimir Putin, seen by some as a modern-day Czar, recently visited several Balkan countries. He was there to secure better economic relation, but also to secure stronger political relations with a major partner, Serbia. Unofficial statements between Putin and Serbian officials show the Russian leader expressing his strong opposition to potential enlargement of the NATO pact on Serbia and Balkans.

Change Of Strategies

These two countries have been political allies for many centuries. Russia was and still is Serbia’s strongest patron on the international political scene. That's especially true in the UN’s Security Council, where Russia was able to stop many resolutions during the Balkan wars. Today, Russia supports Serbia’s European aspirations and clearly states they don’t have anything against possible membership in European Union. But the NATO pact is something different.

“NATO expansion is absolutely against the interests of Russia," Putin said in Belgrade. "If Serbia joined NATO and opted for the missile shield against Russia, we would have to react. We would have to change...More >>