Western Balkans encompass the multi-ethnic state of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well which has been mentioned in the Thessalonica declaration.

The U.S.- EU Summit that took place in June 2003 in Washington D.C. brought new agreements between the two current world key political actors concerning terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, aviation, hydrogen energy and trade. Following the Summit, the U.S. State Department issued a fact sheet on U.S.-EU cooperation in the Balkans towards strengthening the common efforts in long term assistance strategies and multilateral cooperation in the region, with specific focus on Western Balkans. Source:U.S. State Department Year: 2003

The September 11 attacks have swift the U.S. strategic focus from the Balkans to the Middle East and Central Asia regions, and counter terrorism fight worldwide. Thus in the long term the EU seems to be in charge with the reconstruction and implicitly integration of the Balkan countries in its structures. As it proved rather unprepared both institutionally and strategically in front of the conflicts that marked the 1990s, the EU now faces the challenge of playing the main role in stabilizing its very neighborhood. As of primary security interest for the EU, the Balkan region issues, such as military conflicts, terrorism, lack of rule of law, and of sustainable economy, and humanitarian crisis cannot be handled solely by the EU yet. The Balkans Working Group organized by the U.S. Institute of Peace back in 2002 concluded that, in spite of the due main role of the EU in the Balkans, there is a strong need for co-operation between the EU and the U.S. if the Balkan region is to be put back on tracks. Source:United States Institute of Peace Year:2002

The Rome statute for creating an international Criminal Court was signed by 139 governments, out of which only 60 have ratified it. The roots of the court lie back in Nuremberg war crimes trial in 1946 which set the precedent for prosecuting individuals in a new category of offenses such as crimes against humanity and waging war of aggression. Although Washington has strongly supported the special courts set up by the UN Security Council to try war crimes and genocide in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the US and other governments have moved cautiously with the intricate legal architecture of the ICC In 1997, President Bill Clinton called for a "permanent international court to prosecute the most serious violations of humanitarian law." Already in 1998, an international meeting in Rome drafted the court's statute, but the US and six others, including Iraq, Libya, China, and Israel, voted against it. The Clinton administration nevertheless signed the statute at the last minute, but the Bush administration that followed him has added an ideological condemnation that seems to rule out US ratification of the ICC statute. The EU compromise permitting member states to reach bilateral agreements with the U.S. despite its rejection of the ICC was seen as a result of Brussels' desire to preserve unity. According to the Romanian political analyst, Raluca Rotaru Stefan, the issue can be regarded as an ancient dispute between the U.S as political giant and the EU as economic giant. However, for the Balkan countries the decision whether to ratify or not the ICC remains a trap like situation as long as the EU pushes for holding true to the Union line of supporting the Court while the U.S. proves a real hard liner by threatening with material sanctions. Author:Honor Mahony , EU Observer Year: 2003

The US position towards the EU enlargement and towards the accessing countries, as well as the countries from the Balkans and Southeastern Europe are provided on the US Mission to the European Union web site Source: US Mission to the European Union Year: 2003