Powers Worried At Bosnia's Lack of Progress

After a two-day meeting in Sarajevo, the group of 55 countries and international organisations that sponsor and direct the peace implementation process in Bosnia concluded that the local authorities have failed to fulfill conditions for closing the powerful international envoy’s office in their country.

The Peace Implementation Council, PIC, said it fully supported the international community’s High Representative to Bosnia, Valentin Inzko, whose authority was recently seriously challenged by Bosnian Serb leaders.

“The PIC Steering Board urged (Bosnian) leaders to refrain from divisive rhetoric and behavior that further polarizes the political atmosphere in Bosnia-Herzegovina,” it said in a statement. “Personal attacks and threats of legal action against the High Representative and his staff are unacceptable.”

Bosnian Serbs have recently stepped up their opposition to the OHR’s continued presence in Bosnia, accusing Inzko of abusing his powers.

The government of Bosnia’s Serb-dominated part Republika Srpska has been rejecting since September to obey the latest Inzko’s decisions threatening to sue him and some of his predecessors before international courts.

Inzko’s deputy, US diplomat Raffi Gregorian also came under fire from Bosnian Serbs and from Bosnia’s Islamic community who accused him of being anti-Serb and anti-Muslim respectively.

Bosnian Serb Prime Minster Milorad Dodik again accused the OHR on Wednesday of “destabilising” Bosnia with the goal of having its mandate extended. Dodik said that Republika Srpska will continue to challenge Inzko’s authority.

 “The OHR is working on fulfilling the conditions for its closure, the real question is what some of the local leaders are willing to do in order for that to be achieved,” Inzko told journalists after the PIC meeting.

The OHR, which was created under the 1995 Dayton peace agreement for Bosnia, has wide powers to make and shape the country’s laws and to remove obstructive officials.

The OHR was due to be phased out in 2007 and replaced with the Office of the European Union Special Representatives who would not have executive powers.However, its mandate was extended because of political instability and the failure of Bosnian politicians to agree on necessary reforms.

The PIC meeting followed weeks of intense diplomatic activity in Bosnia aimed at persuading the country’s bickering leaders to agree on a reform package proposed in October by the EU and US.

Local leaders rejected the package of constitutional reforms after a series of meetings with Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg in Sarajevo in October, with Serbs describing it as too demanding and Bosniaks and Croats as insufficient.

However, the West hopes that the local leaders could be persuaded to reverse their positions through ongoing negotiations at the level of technical experts.

While stressing that the ongoing constitutional reform talks were not an initiative of the OHR, the PIC said that “some constitutional amendments remain essential… to improve functionality of the country and to facilitate its EU aspirations.”