RS Government Commits Itself to Unblocking Reforms

As you know, the Principal Deputy High Representative,
Larry Butler, yesterday held a meeting here in

Banja Luka

with RS Prime Minister
Pero Bukejlovic and members of his government. The object of this meetings was
to assess progress that has been made by the RS Government in a number of key
areas where it has obstructed measures that would have direct benefits for
citizens or that are necessary for further European integration.

During the meeting, the prime minister and the relevant ministers indicated
their support for the BiH laws on Pharmaceuticals and Consumer Protection; they
also indicated that they would pursue a constructive way forward in
strengthening banking supervision in BiH under the aegis of the Central Bank, in
facilitating debt settlement issues, and in providing financial and technical
support for the BiH Restitution Commission and the ITA.

The Prime Minister committed himself to ensuring that managers at RS Sume and

EPRS identified in the Supreme Auditor’s
report as being responsible for fraud or mismanagement will be held personally
and – where appropriate – criminally responsible. He will provide a report on
the measures that the RS Government has taken in this regard by the end of this
month,

The RS Government also expressed its full support for the transfer agreement
on defence – the final legislative task in the defence reform process – which
will be discussed in the RSNA next week.

And the Prime Minister indicated that his government will comply with the
deadline set by the Human Rights Commission of the

Constitutional Court

to
submit a full investigation report to the Commission on the fate of Colonel Avdo
Palic by the end of the year.