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Leaders of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia on Monday signed up to approve the establishment of the new Regional Youth Cooperation Office - an idea based on a reconciliation project to bring French and German youth closer together after World War II.

"Serbia was among the first to support this idea last year," Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic told media after the signing ceremony at the Balkan Summit in Paris.

European Union and U.S. envoys warned Bosnia's leaders on Wednesday that the country risked missing out on closer ties with the EU in the near term and losing 2 billion euros in support due to an impasse over reforms.

Bosnia hoped Brussels would consider its EU membership bid at its next ministerial council in mid-July, but without the reforms this may not happen.

The assembly of Bosnia's Serb-dominated entity, Republika Srpska, on Tuesday held an emergency session on decision of the state statistical agency to publish the results of Bosnia's 2013 census - without first agreeing on a shared methodology with Bosnian Serb experts.

After a heated debate, the assembly asked Bosnian State Statistical Agency to withdraw its decision to publish the results of the 2013 census, and asked the government of the entity to prepare a draft law that would allow publication of the census results by Republika Srpska autonomously.

Western diplomats urged Bosnian leaders Thursday to continue moving toward NATO membership, saying it could bring security and improve people's lives. But a Bosnian Serb leader says Serbs will not let Bosnia join until the alliance resolves its differences with Russia.

The ambassadors of the U.S., Britain and NATO issued a joint statement saying, "If you want positive change ... moving toward NATO is a great way to do it."

Bosnian Prime Minister Denis Zvizdic, and the Prime Ministers of the country’s two political entities, Republika Srpska’s [RS] Zeljka Cvijanovic and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s [FBiH] Fadil Novalic, still couldn't agree on the adoption of a coordination mechanism between Bosnian institutions.
 
The agreement is  a central component of the country’s efforts to become an EU ascension candidate.

The first few months of 2016 have seen almost frantic attempts by leading Western diplomats to salvage the new EU initiative for Bosnia and Herzegovina - which is not even that new anymore - and break through endless obstructions erected by local politicians.

Despite optimistic statements that still occasionally come from local and international officials about the country's progress on its EU path, by the beginning of June, local leaders had still failed to find solutions to any of the key issues that were supposed to unlock Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EU accession process.

Vojislav Seselj is hoping to pick up his political career where he left off when he went to The Hague to stand trial at the UN war crimes tribunal in 2003.

Seselj's Serbian Radical Party, which has been active in Serbia and Bosnia's Serb-dominated entity of Republika Srpska throughout the past two decades, has been weakened by his prolonged absence.

Its political space in both countries has meanwhile been occupied by mainstream parties which have moved to the right and assumed positions based on Serb nationalist and patriotic sentiments.

Republic of Srpska Constitutional court took on Monday the first step that may stop the announced referendum about the judiciary system in BiH.

Since, earlier this month, Republic of Srpska National Assembly adopted a decision to hold a referendum on the work of state Court and Prosecution office, with discussion about the legality of it among politicians and international community representatives growing.

RS president, Milorad Dodik, said on Tuesday that there is no doubt that the referendum would be held and emphasized that it represents a fight against legal violence of High representative in BiH and the fight for the affirmation of the Dayton Peace Agreement.