Press Conferences

The High Representative would like to extend his best wishes to all of you and to all of your colleagues in the BiH media, on the occasion of World Journalists’ Day. This is a day on which we reflect upon the difficulties journalists face - from risking their lives all the way through to contending with unhelpful public officials who are reluctant [...]

BiH’s road to Europe will be long and tough – but we took a giant step on that road at Vlasic over the last four days. But more than that, what we saw at Vlasic over the last few days was a glimpse of the future.

The OHR is pleased that the PBS legislation has been returned to parliamentary procedures and we hope that the Parliament will act constructively and duly adopt the PBS laws. The European Commission has made it very clear that unless an agreement in line with the Feasibility Study is reached, BiH will not be able to obtain a SAA.

The Vlasic negotiations are scheduled to go on until 27, with a possibility of them running into the morning of the 28th. Our expectations are to find a political solution that adheres to the EU's three principles. The participants have agreed not to comment on the outcome of Vlasic talks now - since that would influence ongoing talks.

The deadline to request revision under the Law on Construction Land expires on 16 May 2005. All those who were construction land users before 1992 and whose right has subsequently been cancelled are encouraged to apply for the revision of such decision under this Law before the expiration of the deadline. Requests for revision should be submitted i [...]

The High Representative will later today meet with politicians representing the FBiH political party clubs. Their discussions will focus on Police reform and in particular the crucial upcoming negotiations to be held on Vlasic between the 24th and 27th April.

The news that the European Commission has approved a Feasibility Report assessing the readiness of Serbia and Montenegro a Stabilisation and Association Agreement is a welcome development. Increasingly the Balkans makes its way to EU membership. Serbia and Montenegro had to complete their tasks including ICTY cooperation and tough negotiations on t [...]

The High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, will tomorrow visit Banja Luka where he will meet representatives of political parties. He will address the media following the meeting with RS President Dragan Cavic.

"The nine year old policy of obstruction in the RS is giving way to a constructive engagement with the ICTY", the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, told Javier Solana, the EU HR for Foreign Policy and Security Affairs when they met late last night in Brussels. But he also underlined that "additional efforts to bring all those indicted to justice [...]

The High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, is in London today where he meets British Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jack Straw. During the meeting the HR will outline progress made so far regarding co-operation, in particular RS, with the ICTY.