Bosnia-Herzegovina's progress towards starting EU negotiations must not be stopped because of objections over police reform – the central issue blocking further talks – the country's foreign minister, Mladen Ivanic, told Emerging Markets in an interview.
His comments follow the EU's statement on Thursday that it would not suggest starting accession negotiations with the country if it fails to implement necessary reforms.
Politicians from Bosnia's Serb entity, Republika Srpska (RS), this week rejected the country's police reform plan. The reforms, which had been agreed in principle by all sides, were snubbed by the politicians after disagreements over the proposed maps for the country's new police regions.
Paddy Ashdown, BiH's high representative, had warned that failure to accept the proposed reforms would put an end to BiH's prospects of starting Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) talks, the next step on the road towards EU candidacy. Ashdown added that he is "not going to waste more time" on the issue.
The topic has now been passed to the Republika Srpska National Assembly (RSNA) which has organized an extraordinary sitting for May 30. This assembly could yet accept the reforms. However, RS politicians have not toned down their public rhetoric on the issue, suggesting that the assembly may not heed Ashdown's warning.
Moreover, Ivanic, a former RS prime minister, expressed sympathy with the RS objections but said that further negotiations are needed. "Both sides have to be given something," he said.
The minister believes it was a mistake for Ashdown to insist that the disputed maps must be accepted. "We have to eliminate the frustration and then the country will be united. It can't be united by artificially united police or artificially built institutions. It has to be accepted by the people and in order for this we have to eliminate their frustrations," he said.
Ivanic also emphasized that a national police force, the State Investigation and Protection Agency, already exists in BiH. This force, he said, can "guarantee that policing in Bosnia can be efficient and controlled at the state level," as demanded by the EC. Ivanic played down the importance of the argument over a "uniformed police which deals with traffic."
Yesterday OHR spokes- person Sanela Tunovic stressed that the RSNA "should listen to the 66% of the RS public who want reform." She would not be drawn on whether a "no" from the RSNA would definitively kill all hopes of starting the talks.
Nevertheless, on the economic front, BiH is prepared to begin SAA negotiations. Larry Butler, principal deputy high representative for BiH said: "The fact that we are making progress – and significant progress at that – towards the single economic space in BiH is a useful measure of the normalization not only of the economy but of the country as a whole."