European Union leaves Bosnian Muslims in the cold, once again

The announcement came just five days after the commemoration of the Srebrenica genocide, which refers to the July 1995 killing of more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys, as well as the ethnic cleansing of 25,000-30,000 refugees in the area of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by Serb forces under the command of Gen. Ratko Mladic during the Bosnian War. The new regime reignited debates that EU reactions resembled those during the Bosnian War of 1992-1995, when heavily armed Serbs butchered almost 250,000 Bosniaks. For three years the EU refused to intervene to stop the massacre of Bosniaks. When the UN decided to impose an arms embargo on all sides, Muslim Bosniaks pointed out to world leaders that it would only apply to Bosniaks, as both Serbs and Croats were already getting massive amounts of weaponry from Serbia and Croatia. Their appeal went unheeded.

Experts say the EU is now doing exactly the same thing, punishing Bosnians because of the Bosnian Serbs and Croats' refusal to grant the right of issuing passports to the federal government.

EU spokespersons declined to comment when asked by Today's Zaman why the European Commission has excluded Bosnians from the new regime. The Greens and the political youth organization JEF (Young European Federalists), on the other hand, have strongly criticized the move by the commission, saying it creates “new divisions in the Balkans.” While Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the leader of the Greens in the European Parliament, condemned the new visa regime as “hypocritical,” the JEF accused the EU of dividing Southeastern Europe and discriminating against the victims of the Srebrenica genocide.

Experts in the European Parliament who have followed the visa regime debates very closely also condemned the move by the European Commission, characterizing it as clear discrimination against the Muslim population of the Western Balkans and argued that the reasons cited by the commission as to why Bosnia and Albania were excluded were far from convincing. “The basic reason why Bosnians and Albanians are not in,” said one veteran EP expert, “is the simple reason that no EU member country pushed for them.”

When announcing the new regime, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn was asked if the new regime meant Mladic, who is still at large, would enjoy visa-free travel across Europe with a Serbian passport while families of the Bosniaks that perished in Srebrenica are being punished again.

Rehn dismissed the question, saying the EU did not discriminate against any country in the Balkans and that Bosnia and Herzegovina has spent too much time on nationalist discourse instead of focusing on efforts to meet EU requirements.

Under the new visa regime, citizens of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia should be allowed visa-free travel to EU nations starting on Jan. 1.

The proposal still needs the backing of all 27 EU member states, which could come in October, paving the way for visa requirements to be dropped on Jan. 1.

Reasons to exclude Bosnians are baseless and false

Talking to Today's Zaman, experts in the European Parliament argued that the reasons given by the commission to exclude Bosnians are not very convincing. The commission announced yesterday that Bosnians and Albanians were excluded because they still lacked enhanced passports containing microchips with biometric data.

However, millions of European Union citizens still do not hold a biometric passport.

Secondly, the visa restriction for Bosnia will only apply to Bosnian Muslims, not to Bosnian Serbs or Bosnian Croats. Bosnian Serbs and Serbs from Kosovo will be able to travel visa-free in the EU thanks to their second passport, issued by the Republic of Serbia. Bosnian Croats have for a couple years now been able to enjoy visa-free travel to the EU thanks to their Croatian passports. Restrictions thus remain in place for the Bosniak people of Bosnia and Herzegovina. De facto, ethnic criteria will decide on whether a citizen is able to travel freely to the EU.

Thirdly, the European Commission ignores the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia are almost at the same level with regard to the introduction of biometric passports and a variety of legislative acts agreed on the visa liberalization roadmap.

The last and most condemning fact is that both Croats and Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina refused to grant to right to issue the biometric passports to the federal government in Sarajevo. “The European Commission could have dictated the terms by simply telling Croats and Serbs of Bosnia that biometric passports would be issued by the federal government in Sarajevo, thus strengthening the central government. The commission did just the opposite and chose to punish Bosnians, the only faultless group in the debate,” said one EP expert.

Strong condemnation by the Greens

Cohn-Bendit, whose Green List in France scored a historic victory in the European elections last month, grilled the commission for discriminating against Bosnian Muslims.

In a written statement, Cohn-Bendit called the commission plans “hypocritical and morally abject,” underlining that “it adds insult to injury to the people who suffered most during the war that raged less than two decades ago.”

“Bosnia and Herzegovina's EU aspirations are being hamstrung by the Bosnian Serb leadership, which is agitating for secession. By granting visa-free EU access to Serbia, the commission de facto extends the same privileges to Bosnian Serbs because of their dual citizenship, while blocking and discriminating against Bosnian Muslims. Bosnian Croats already enjoy visa-free travel to EU member states because of dual citizenship with Croatia. Visa liberalization is a rare opportunity to foster hope and reconciliation in the Western Balkans. The proposed uneven-handed action will instead formalize ethnic divisions, reward the obstruction tactics of nationalist politicians and deepen resentment in the region,” said Cohn-Bendit.

Using quite strong language against the commission, Cohn-Bendit warned that the EU was losing its credibility. “Inept during the war and inconsistent in its aftermath, EU pretensions to present a democratic and multiethnic model for the Western Balkans look less credible than ever. Even the timing of the commission's announcement is insensitive and anti-democratic, coming days after the commemoration of Srebrenica and precisely when the European Parliament is in transition of mandate and unavailable for political consultation. Commissioners [José Manuel] Barroso, Rehn and [Jacques] Barrot are pushing for a major, wrong-headed policy change at a time when the current EU Commission is in the twilight of its mandate and without Parliament endorsement for a new term.”