EU warns Bosnia that it will lose funds due to political situation

The European Union warned Bosnia on Thursday it could lose almost 100 million euros (135 million dollars) of the bloc’s funds for 2011 due to internal political disputes and gave it a few days to agree over the issue.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele “regrets that Bosnia-Hercegovina is the only country in the region that has not been able to finalise an IPA national programme” destined for candidate or potential candidate countries, a statement issued by the EU delegation here said.

If the European Commission is not notified of an agreement on the programme “in the coming days” the annual funds in the amount of 96 million euros will be reallocated for a regional Western Balkans programme, Fuele said in a letter to Bosnian Prime Minister Nikola Spiric.

The funds were aimed to be used notably to implement reforms in judiciary and public administration, and to help development of small and medium enterprises and construction of highways.