American Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Sarajevo early yesterday morning to begin the first stage of his trip around the Balkans, which will also take him to Serbia and Kosovo. Yesterday he has had official meetings with European Union High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, the tripartite leadership of Bosnia and various political leaders.

At 5pm he spoke to the Bosnian Parliament, broadcast live on American television. Washington and Brussels want to show that they will work together to resolve the problems of the Balkans together, but Sarajevo hopes this renewed American commitment to the region will boost the reforms which the country needs to join the EU.

Biden was welcomed at the airport of the Bosnian capital by Foreign Minister Sven Alkalaj and the Mayor of Sarajevo, Alija Behmen. Yesterday afternoon the US Vice President had also talks with Prime Minister Nikola Spiric and with Milorad Dodik, Premier of the Republika Srpska, the Bosnian republic with a Serb majority and main opponent of the reforms the country must carry out to join the European Union.

U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden said in Sarajevo on May 19 that the doors of the EU were open to Bosnia and Herzegovina and that Bosnia could count on U.S. support on its path.

In a speech in the Bosnia and Herzegovina parliament, Biden warned legislators and numerous public figures that the U.S. was concerned about the direction that Bosnia was taking, that nationalistic rhetoric had been steadily rising for the past three years and that this needed to stop immediately.

The U.S. thinks that the only right path for Bosnia is the EU, but as a whole entity. You have to cooperate above ethnic divides, to function as a true country; to communicate with the world as a single state, Biden said.

Biden called on politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina to work in the interest of all of the country's nations and their children. The doors of Europe are open and the U.S. will help you pass through these doors, Biden said. He added that Bosnia's politicians and nations needed to accept the fact that "compromise is not a sign of weakness, but true strength."

Biden stressed that the U.S. would not allow the Office of the High Representative to close until Bosnia undertook the necessary reforms. Biden also said that High Representative Valentin Inzko and the Office had the full support of the U.S.

Addressing domestic and international officials, including EU senior official Javier Solana, Biden said that Montenegro was moving forward on its journey toward the EU and conducting ambitious reforms, adding that FYRMacedonia would become a member of the EU when it solved its dispute with Greece.

Biden said that his message to Serbian President Boris Tadic would be that "the U.S. wants to build new and healthy relations with Serbia" and that the U.S. wants to see Serbia become a strong and democratic state and assume its rightful place in Europe.

We do not expect Serbia to accept Kosovo's independence soon, Biden said, adding that Serbia was expected to cooperate with the EU to improve the lives of Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo.

He added that the U.S. were devoted to an independent and democratic Kosovo, but that Kosovo would have to dedicate itself to protecting all its communities and minorities.

On May 19, Biden arrived in Sarajevo where he met with Bosnia's highest officials, party leaders and High Representative Valentin Inzko.