Friday, January 17, 2014

Why Bosnia should join the EU

by Emina Ribo, Carola Ponjevic and Monika Toma


Original text:
When driving through the scattered regions in the Republic of Bosnia, a country on the Balkan peninsula of South Eastern Europe, you might observe that the Yugoslavian war had clearly left its marks. 12 years after the Dayton Agreement, which ended the tragic Yugoslavian war, Bosnia has been starting to reconstruct and repair the remaining war damages. Since Bosnia is located in the heart of Europe, the question arises: Why is the country not yet a member state of the EU? The prospect of EU membership exists, however, the country needs to improve its standards of living and politics as well as other areas. The accession of Bosnia to the EU would definitely grant the country a great deal of benefits and vice versa. The EU could derive a benefit from Bosnia in terms of agriculture and cultural diversity. If the Republic of Bosnia became a member state of the Union, both sides could extract advantages from each other.

As for Bosnia, an accession to the EU could help prevent corruption, since it is, in fact, a big issue there. The level of unemployment is rising and the citizen’s living conditions are getting worse while the officials and politics are getting richer. The Justice is mostly corrupt and even the schools and hospitals are trying to benefit from the corrupt system. The unfairness the Bosnians are confronted with every day has led to a tension between the citizens and the government. Not only the government causes discontent though but also the strained relationship between the three ethnics living in Bosnia, namely the Bosnians themselves, the Croatians and the Serbs. The relationship between them is strained due to the fact that they obviously still suffer the consequences of the war 20 years ago. Time has shown that the Bosnian government cannot solve these kind of issues on its own. An EU accession would therefore help to improve the social, political and economical situation in Bosnia. The EU could interfere in politics and economics and try to mediate between the ethnical groups in order to bring peace within the country.

Our classmates' feedback:
When driving through the scattered regions in the Republic of Bosnia, you might observe that the Yugoslavian war had clearly left its marks.
I can't tell the the text is going to be about the advantages that Bosnia would have with the accession to the EU. If this is your focus, consider mentioning it in the topic sentence

12
If you want to start a sentence with a number, you have to write it out..

Submitted version:
When driving through the scattered regions of the Republic of Bosnia, a country located on the Balkan peninsula of South Eastern Europe, you might observe that the Yugoslavian war had clearly left its marks. Twelve years after the Dayton Agreement, which ended the tragic war of former Yugoslavia, Bosnia started to reconstruct and repair the remaining war damages to become stable again. Since Bosnia is, in fact, located in the heart of Europe, this raises an inescapable question: Why is the country not yet a member state of the EU? Although the prospect of EU membership exists, as negotiations started in 2005, the country will have to first improve its standards of living and politics as well as other areas. Once the Republic is somewhat stable enough to become a member state of the Union, there is no doubt that not only could Bosnia benefit from the accession, but that the EU would also derive great benefits from the Republic, for instance, in terms of agriculture and cultural diversity.

Since corruption is a major issue in Bosnia, an accession to the EU would undoubtedly prevent its negative impact on the citizens and consequently help to foster Bosnia’s stability and economic reform. The level of unemployment continues to rise and the citizen’s living conditions are becoming worse each day, while officials and politicians are living in prosperity. The justice system is mostly corrupt as well and even schools and hospitals attempt to benefit from the corrupt system. As a result of this unfairness that Bosnians are currently being confronted with, a certain tension has developed not only between the citizens and the government, but also between the three ethnics living in Bosnia, namely the Bosnians themselves, the Croatians and the Serbs. The relationship between them is strained due to the fact that they apparently still suffer from the consequences of the war which came about as a result of the breakup of Yugoslavia 20 years ago. Time has clearly shown that the Bosnian government is not capable of solving these numerous issues on its own; and this is where the EU’s support could come into play. The Union could assist in improving the social as well as the political and economic situation in Bosnia by implementing effective EU regulations and policies in order to establish a well-functioning legal and governmental system. As far as the relationship between the inhabitants is concerned, the EU could also try to mediate between the ethnical groups by providing specific programs to promote a unity in order to restore peace within the country. It goes without saying that Bosnian citizens will be able to benefit from a wide range of EU programs and will be free to reside, work and study freely within the EU. Essentially, the membership is the only way to build up a social cohesion within the country and eventually make Bosnia an essential member in international businesses.

There are almost as many benefits for the EU to reap from this diverse country, as the numerous advantages Bosnia could receive from joining the EU. Since the EU respects and encourages cultural differences and views this as an essential sector of social and human development, it can certainly make enormous use of the Bosnian treasure house. The Union could take advantage of the country’s cultural diversity which is marked by regional differences where different ethnic groups live, each with traditions of their own.  Moreover, the vibrant country with its friendly inhabitants and lively atmosphere is characterized by a sublime, mountainous landscape and old historical buildings and monuments, all of which could contribute to promoting sustainable tourism. In other words, Bosnia could be one of the EU’s principal magnets of tourism. Apart from that, agriculture is a valuable source to invest in as well. Bosnia is famous for having extremely fertile soil, corn fields and plum trees which are usually used in the preparation of quality wine. These resources could be of great advantage to the EU as it would contribute to the Union’s profit.

Although Bosnia’s prospect of membership seems to lie in the distant future as the country is still in need of further development, the EU could definitely profit from Bosnia’s agriculture, cultural diversity, and much more. Just as the EU could gain a great deal from Bosnia’s accession, there is no doubt that Bosnia would improve in nearly every aspect and shine in new splendor.
[734 words]

Corrected version:
When driving through the scattered regions of the Republic of Bosnia, a country located on the Balkan peninsula of South Eastern Europe, you can observe that the Yugoslavian war clearly left its marks. Twelve years after the Dayton Agreement, which ended the tragic war of former Yugoslavia, Bosnia started to reconstruct damaged buildings and monuments in order to stabilize the country’s economic situation. Since Bosnia has, in fact, improved in many aspects, this raises an inescapable question: Why is the country not yet a member state of the EU? Although the prospect of EU membership exists, as negotiations started in 2005, the country will have to first improve its standards of living and politics as well as other areas. Once the republic meets most of EU’s requirements to become a Member State of the Union, there is no doubt that not only could Bosnia benefit from the accession, but that the EU would also derive great benefits from the country, for instance, in terms of agriculture and cultural diversity.

Since corruption is a major issue in Bosnia, accession to the EU would not only foster Bosnia’s stability and economic reform, but also make it easier for Bosnia’s citizens to lead a fair life. In addition, the level of unemployment continues to rise and the citizens’ living conditions are becoming worse each day, while officials and politicians are living in prosperity. The justice system is mostly corrupt as well and even schools and hospitals attempt to benefit from the corrupt system. As a result of the unfairness that Bosnia’s citizens are currently facing, a certain tension has developed not only between the citizens and the government, but also between the three ethnic groups themselves living in Bosnia, namely the Bosnians, the Croatians and the Serbs. The relationship between them is strained due to the fact that they are obviously still suffering from the consequences of the war which was caused as a result of the breakup of Yugoslavia 20 years ago. Time has clearly shown that the Bosnian government is not capable of solving these numerous issues on its own; and this is where the EU’s support could come into play. The Union could assist in improving the social as well as the political and economic situation in Bosnia by implementing effective EU regulations and policies in order to establish a well-functioning legal and governmental system. As far as the relationship between the inhabitants is concerned, the EU could also try to mediate between the ethnic groups by providing specific programs to promote a unity in order to restore peace within the country. It goes without saying that Bosnian citizens would be able to benefit from a wide range of EU programs and would be free to reside, work and study freely within the EU. Basically, EU membership is the only way to build social cohesion within the country and eventually make Bosnia an essential contributor in international affairs.

There are almost as many benefits for the EU to reap from this diverse country as the numerous advantages Bosnia could derive from joining the EU. Since the EU respects and encourages cultural differences, and perceives this as an essential sector of social and human development, it can certainly make full use of the Bosnian culture. The Union could take advantage of the country’s cultural diversity, which is marked by regional differences where different ethnic groups live, each with traditions of their own. Moreover, the vibrant countryside, with its inhabitants and lively atmosphere, is characterized by a mountainous landscape and old historical buildings and monuments, all of which could contribute to promoting sustainable tourism. In other words, Bosnia could be one of the EU’s principal magnets of tourism. Apart from these advantages, agriculture is a valuable resource to invest in as well, because of Bosnia’s extremely fertile soil and corn fields. These resources could be of great advantage to the EU as it would contribute to the Union’s success.

Although the prospect of Bosnia’s membership seems to lie in the distant future as the country is still in need of further development, the EU could definitely profit from Bosnia’s agriculture, cultural diversity, and much more. Just as the EU could gain a great deal from Bosnia’s accession, there is no doubt that Bosnia would improve in nearly every area and begin to flourish.
[721 words]

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