Bringing Bosnia Closer to Europe: Can the EU Successfully Navigate the Nationalist Roadblocks?

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Chapman, Mary
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Political Science

Abstract

The international community (IC) has been present in Bosnia-Herzegovina for almost twenty years. Although many reforms were achieved during the first decade of the state-building process, and violence has almost completely ceased to be a potential threat to stability, Bosnia-Herzegovina is still far away from being able to function as an independent state. The Office of High Representative and subsequently European Union have taken measures to promote increased cooperation among the different ethnic groups as well as try to create a stronger central government with less power for the individual entities. Since 2006, these efforts at reform have only met with political stalemate. This essay argues that largely due to the long history of political nationalism in the RS, but also due to ineptitude on behalf of the international actors involved, that the European Union will be forced to soften its stance on its expectations of constitutional reform.

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