Turkey secures Spain's help to solve Bosnian crisis

The agreement was reached at a meting held in Cordoba last Sunday between Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, according to a diplomat who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. “It appears Davutoğlu secured a pledge from Moratinos that Madrid will work closely with Ankara to try to solve issues in Bosnia when it takes over the helm of the EU,” the same diplomat said.

Tension among Muslims, Serbs and Croats in Bosnia has been brewing for some time over power-sharing disputes, and calls for secession by Serbs and Croats are increasingly being voiced. Turkey wants utmost attention to the issue from the EU side because of upcoming national elections in Bosnia in October 2010. “Had you not done something sooner to soothe tensions, before the parties began their campaigning for the elections, you would have had a full-blown crisis on your hands,” another diplomat said, warning that the crisis may have spilled over to neighboring countries as well.

Speaking to Today’s Zaman on the plane en route to Spain last week, Davutoğlu criticized Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt’s approach to solving the problem in Bosnia, saying the “take it or leave it approach” is not working and urging comprehensive consultations with all parties interested, including Russia and Turkey. “Serbs feel more comfortable when they see Russia involved and Bosnians feel more confident when Turkey is involved,” he said, adding that the imposition of the EU-developed plan on Bosnia would go nowhere.

Sweden currently holds the EU presidency and as such, its foreign minister is tasked with coordinating the EU’s diplomacy on foreign relations, including Bosnia. Spanish diplomats, also furious with Bildt’s approach, say Spain feels it has not been kept in the loop while the Bosnian plan was developed.

“Frankly, we were not happy with his approach as he failed to inform us fully in advance,” one Spanish diplomat told Today’s Zaman, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Swedish Foreign Minister Bildt, who served as the high representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was instrumental in brokering the Dayton Peace Accords in 1995. Bosnia’s Orthodox Christian Serbs, Muslim Bosnians and Catholic Croats fought in Europe’s worst conflict since World War II from 1992 to 1995 in which 100,000 people died and millions were displaced. The country has since been divided into two rival, predominantly Serb and Muslim-Croat halves.

‘Russia and Turkey should remain engaged’

Davutoğlu also pointed out that it is premature to turn the Office of the High Representative of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina over to the EU. “That will remove a feeling of confidence on both the Bosnian and Serb sides because both Turkey and Russia are not members of the 27-nation bloc,” he underscored.

Alarmed with signs of deepening ethnic divisions and the threat of new conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey launched a high-paced round of diplomacy to bring the sides together. Davutoğlu brokered two meetings in İstanbul between Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic and his Bosnian counterpart, Sven Alkalaj, in just one month.

Ankara also holds the ongoing chairmanship-in-office of the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP), a forum for diplomatic and political dialogue among countries in Southeast Europe, which increases further Turkish interest in the situation in Bosnia. In fact, a recent trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Turkey was held on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting of the SEECP.

Turkey’s approach to the resolution of outstanding issues in Bosnia hinges on two pillars, Davutoğlu said. “Bosnia should be provided with what we call a ‘membership action plan’ with regard to both the EU and NATO,” he said, adding to that “the hope will help restore the psychological well-being of Bosnians.”

The Turkish foreign minister also lambasted the European Commission for providing privileges to Bosnian Serbs and Croats by easing visa restrictions while blocking the application for Bosnian Muslims. “The move psychologically damaged the Bosnian mindset,” he said, expressing his hope that the situation will soon be rectified.

The commission’s visa-liberalization program for the Western Balkans recommends a visa-free regime for Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, but excludes Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. As both Croats and Serbs in Bosnia have dual citizenships and will benefit from the easing of visa restrictions, Bosnian Muslims are practically left outside of this regime, with the commission citing technical difficulties and a lack of progress in the issuance of secure passports in Bosnia. The move triggered a strong reaction from Turkey as well from some EU member states.