Bosnia's hopes for an early invitation to join the 46-nation Partnership for Peace were quashed today after Nato suggested the country must still do more to co-operate with the UN war crimes court.
Sarajevo's moves to overhaul its armed forces had stoked speculation that it could win an invitation to join the partnership at Nato's summit in Istanbul in June.
Asked if this was on the cards, Nato Secretary-General Mr Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said: "It's difficult to predict, but . . . as I see it at this moment the odds are not in favour to have a decision at Istanbul yet".
Bosnia is under intense Western pressure to do more to arrest fugitives Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, who have been indicted for their role in Bosnia's 1992-95 war.
"There is progress on defence reform but the defining issue, politically, has become PIFWCs," said a NATO official, referring to persons indicted for war crimes. "This is seen as a very important issue for all the nations and they won't back off."