22/07/2009 (Agence Europe) - At a meeting of the committee on foreign affairs of the European Parliament in Brussels on 21 July, a number of MEPs- including the Austrian Hannes Swoboda (S&D) and Slovenia's Jelko Kacin (ALDE) - spoke out against the fact that the European Commission had excluded Bosnia-Herzegovina (and Albania) from its recent proposed liberalisation of visas starting in January 2010 (EUROPE 9943). Carl Bildt, Swedish Foreign Minister and current President of the Council of the EU, responded by pointing out that the Bosnian authorities were at fault due to their lack of preparation towards allowing the country to benefit from a removal of a visa obligation at this stage. "The Bosnian citizens are the victims of the political incapacity of the leaders, who have failed to take the necessary decisions as regards biometric passports, amongst other things. This is not a new problem", Mr Bildt told the MEPs. (H.B./transl.fl)