The EU and the United States share a strong commitment to work with the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina to support their integration into the Euro-Atlantic Community.
We have met with seven of the political party leaders of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the second time in ten days to encourage them to take the steps necessary to move forward toward this goal.
In our meetings the party leaders indicated a common commitment to pursue Bosnia and Herzegovina’s European Union integration and NATO membership. They recognized that to achieve this goal the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina must have the competencies, authorities and functionality needed to meet the requirements of the EU accession process and NATO membership, and that the Constitution must be brought into line with the European Convention of Human Rights.
They also recognized the need to find a solution on State and Defense Property to pave the way for the transition of the Office of the High Representative to EU Special Representative, which is a necessary step before Bosnia and Herzegovina will be in a position to present an application for EU membership.
We have shared with the parties a set of proposals which, in our judgment, would advance the objective that the parties agreed upon. We have begun discussions on these proposals and the parties have shared their initial views on the way forward. Although some limited progress has been made, further discussion will be required to achieve agreement on the issues where convergence is still needed and some of the parties will need to demonstrate greater determination and flexibility if they are truly committed to achieve their stated goal.
Therefore, the process we have begun at Butmir will continue. A joint EU-US team of experts will return to Bosnia and Herzegovina next week to resume discussions, to meet with party leaders with the goal of reaching agreement, bearing in mind the next Peace Implementation Council meeting, which is scheduled for November 18. At that time we will take stock with international partners the results achieved to date and draw the necessary conclusions.
We stress our commitment to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and the Dayton Accords as the basis for peace and prosperity for all the peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to secure their future in the European Union and NATO. We call on its leaders to meet their responsibilities by committing themselves to the compromises needed to make this possible.
