Police restructuring

I have been informed that the institutional negotiations on police reform will resume next Monday. I believe that we are now arriving at the crucial moment of these negotiations.

Matthew Rycroft, British Ambassador and EU Presidency in Sarajevo, reiterated that negotiations on police reform need to conclude before Bosnia and Herzegovina can begin negotiations with the EU for a Stabilisation and Association Agreement.

Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy discussed recent developments on the police reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the European Union Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Paddy Ashdown.

The European Commission has been informed that the institutional negotiations on police reform have been suspended until next Monday. The RS representatives have expressed their wish to renegotiate the principles on which a comprehensive political agreement should be based.

Following the suspension of institutional negotiations on police reform until Monday, the High Representative warned that time for reaching an agreement is running out. An agreement on police reform must be reached in order for BiH to receive a green light to start negotiations on a Stabilization and Association Agreement by the tenth anniversary o [...]

High Representative Paddy Ashdown is worried that Bosnia and Herzegovina could miss the big date and as a result see another postponement of the talks with the European Union on the Stabilization and Association Agreement.

The OHR welcomes the important meeting of government institutions on police restructuring which will take place in Mrakovica tomorrow. It expects senior representatives, with negotiating authority, to attend these talks and to participate constructively in order to advance the process of negotiations on police reform.

The High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, has expressed his disappointment that today’s meeting on police restructuring among political parties failed to yield clear results because some of the parties that were invited failed to attend. The aim of the meeting – which was chaired jointly by the High Representative and BiH Prime Minister Adnan Terzic [...]

Following informal discussions with party leaders the BiH Prime Minister, Adnan Terzic and the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, have invited those parties that took part in the Vlasic talks to attend a meeting in Sarajevo on Tuesday, 26 July.

The High Representative today welcomed the commitment from the Government of Republika Srpska to re-start talks on police reform with the Council of Ministers of B&H and Government of FB&H.