On arrival at the Foreign Affairs Council, commenting on Bosnia and Herzegovina, the HR/VP Catherine Ashton said:

“We’ll also be thinking too in our neighbourhood about the situation in Bosnia. And the importance in Bosnia and Herzegovina of the leadership being aware of the issues that are being raised by people and the opportunity that they need to take to resolve not just the economic issues of concern but also the political situation. Thank you very much.”

Question: On Bosnia, Mr Inzko is calling for additional troops if necessary or anything can you give us a comment?

“I think Valentin, my dear friend, was talking about a hypothetical situation. As you know the most important thing in Bosnia and Herzegovina now is for the leadership to think about and consider the real concerns that people have not just about the particular issues but more broadly about the economy in general. And as you would expect me to say to actually look to try and find a way through politically. It’s very very important. There are plenty of leaders in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it’s time they started to really show that leadership and we all support them all the way.”