After his meeting with Bosnian Foreign Minister Mladen Ivanic, the German official told the press that he expected the results of the elections, scheduled for 1 October, would result in the establishment of new stable authorities.
The authorities must be able to carry out a police reform and amend the Constitution, Steinmeier said.
He added that he supported plans to shut down the Office of the international community's High Representative by the end of July 2007.
Minister Ivanic said he agreed that police reforms plans were currently the biggest challenge for the Bosnian authorities.
The European Commission insists on the modernisation of the local police as a condition for concluding a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Bosnia.
However, the authorities in the Bosnian Serb entity are vociferous opponents of the proposed model for the reorganisation of the police sector which stipulates the establishment of more efficient police precincts that would not take into account the current boundary line between the two entities. In addition, this model, supported by the international community, envisages that the current interior ministries in the two entities would play less important role then before.