SARAJEVO (AP) – Bosnia took its first step yesterday toward membership in the EU after accepting a long-disputed plan to merge the country’s ethnically divided police forces. Bosnian and EU representatives initialed a Stabilization and Association Agreement yesterday afternoon. “Today we have a moment to celebrate, because Bosnia-Herzegovina deserves to take this new step,” said EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn who, on behalf of the EU, put his signature on the document along with Bosnia’s representative, Prime Minister, Nikola Spiric. The agreement is “the gateway to candidate status, provided the agreement is properly implemented,” Rehn said.

SARAJEVO (AP) – Leaders of Bosnia’s Jewish community appealed yesterday for help locating Bosnians who aided Jews during World War II and have not been recognized. The search is aimed at locating people who offered help and documenting their stories, said the Bosnian Jewish Community. The effort is part of a broader project to record the lives of Bosnia’s Muslim and Jewish communities over the past centuries.

Slovakia’s prime minister said yesterday it was “hard to imagine” his country would recognize Kosovo if the breakaway Serbian province declares its independence unilaterally. Kosovo has vowed to do so in the coming months if the UN Security Council does not sign off on statehood, repeatedly saying it would not consider any other alternative. “It’s hard for us to imagine that we would recognize a Kosovo that unilaterally declares itself independent,” Robert Fico said after meeting European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. (AP)

Two Red Star Belgrade fans were given a 30-day detention yesterday for allegedly beating up a policeman during a soccer match. Belgrade court spokeswoman Marina Klaric Zivkovic said the fans will be prosecuted for “violent behavior.” The fans reportedly attacked plainclothes policeman Nebojsa Starcevic on Sunday during half ime of Red Star’s league match against FK Hajduk Kula. (AP)