AP, Sarajevo :
The European Union urged Russia on Friday to leave the Balkans out of its dispute with the bloc over Ukraine, and let the region proceed on its path toward EU and NATO memberships.
Moscow has said that because of its strained relations with the West, it no longer supports Bosnia’s membership efforts and that there is no consensus in Bosnia over the issue.
The country’s Bosniacs and Croats tend to look westward, but Bosnian Serbs maintain close ties with Russia, object NATO membership and have obstructed EU-requested reforms. After meetings on Friday with Bosnia’s leaders in Sarajevo, Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s chief foreign affairs official, said her overall impression is that “the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina are more than ready to have the country moving toward the European Union.”
The European Union urged Russia on Friday to leave the Balkans out of its dispute with the bloc over Ukraine, and let the region proceed on its path toward EU and NATO memberships.
Moscow has said that because of its strained relations with the West, it no longer supports Bosnia’s membership efforts and that there is no consensus in Bosnia over the issue.
The country’s Bosniacs and Croats tend to look westward, but Bosnian Serbs maintain close ties with Russia, object NATO membership and have obstructed EU-requested reforms. After meetings on Friday with Bosnia’s leaders in Sarajevo, Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s chief foreign affairs official, said her overall impression is that “the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina are more than ready to have the country moving toward the European Union.”
