Without explicitly mentioning the Federation entity, where the ruling coalition has broken up and a new one is being formed with a lot of resistance, the foreign ministers of EU countries have urged that this be completed as soon as possible so that the government can act.
"Noting the current political events, the Council calls on the political leaders to swiftly ensure that governments on all political levels retain their capacity to act and focus on the implementation of the EU agenda," according to conclusions which the foreign ministers adopted in Luxembourg on Monday.
Bosnia's Social Democratic Party (SDP) decided to break up its partnership with the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP), and agreed a new coalition with the two Croatian Democratic Union parties - HDZ BiH and HDZ 1990 - and with the Alliance for a Better Future (SBB).
However, the Federation government can be reshuffled only with the approval of the entity president and vice president. President Zivko Budimir is a member of the HSP and refuses to give his consent.
The Foreign Affairs Council meeting was attended by Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusic as an observer.
She said the changes in the coalition did not change the basic position and consensus of all political subjects on Bosnia's progress towards EU and NATO membership.
"Our position is that two processes are very tightly intertwined in Bosnia and Herzegovina - progress towards EU membership and towards NATO membership," she said.
Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele invited on Bosnia's highest state officials and leading politicians to a meeting in Brussels on June 27.
In its conclusions, the Council reiterated "its unequivocal support for Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) EU perspective as a sovereign and united country enjoying full territorial integrity."
The Council welcomed "political progress in BiH since the start of 2012, particularly the
formation of the Council of Ministers at state-level, adoption of the State Aid and Population Census Laws, the passing of the 2012 State Budget, and the reaching of a political agreement on state and immovable defence property," but it expressed "concern over the lack of implementing political agreements, the continued use of divisive ethnic rhetoric, and a difficult economic situation."
The Council reiterated that it "condemns any attempts to minimise or deny the genocide which took place in Srebrenica."
The EU once again called on Bosnia to urgently align its Constitution with the European Convention of Human Rights to give national minorities the right to be elected into the highest state bodies, which is a requirement for the entry into force of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement.