The Subcommittee on Europe of the House of Representatives' International Relations Committee on Wednesday held a hearing about the current political situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the development of its institutions.
Participants agreed that almost ten years after the signing of the Dayton agreement, which put an end to the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina in December 1995, the country was still not functioning as a modern democracy capable of achieving its main political goal - integration with the EU and NATO.
The Dayton agreement put an end to the war. However, the main objection to the agreement is that it has resulted in the ethnic division of the country, thus confirming the results of ethnic cleansing campaigns, Subcommittee chairman Elton Gallegly said.
The main flaw of the constitutional organisation of Bosnia-Herzegovina according to the Dayton agreement is the almost sovereign status of the country's entities, Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the resulting weakness of central state institutions, said Bruce Hitchner, a professor at Tufts University.
The international community has been working in recent years through the High Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina to correct the flaws of the Dayton agreement and transfer to the central government control over some institutions, such as border service, intelligence community, the ministries of security, defence and justice, the state court and tax authority, Hitchner said.
Despite some reforms, the country is still governed according to the insufficient Dayton constitution as the international community has so far avoided dealing directly with constitutional reforms because by launching them it would reveal the degree to which fundamental ethnic divisions are burdening the country ten years after the war, Hitchner said.
The goal of the international community is to integrate Bosnia-Herzegovina into the EU and NATO, working simultaneously on removing the consequences of the war and violence as an option in the country's political life and introducing market economy as the foundation of the future economic progress, said Gerard Toal, a professor at the School of Public and International Affairs in Alexandria.
Toal said the strategy of the international community and the High Representative was focused on changing the Dayton agreement from within and avoiding its formal revision. They could be faced with the fact that this strategy will not work and that a clear break-up with the Dayton agreement may be necessary, Toal said.
He warned that there was a contradiction between the Dayton framework and the wish to join the European Union. In order to join the EU, Bosnia-Herzegovina must become a modern country. It must grow beyond the Dayton framework, which is an anachronism from the war times, Toal concluded.
Hitchner and Toal believe that time has come to reform the country's constitution in order to strengthen
the central government by transferring to it powers from entity governments and by strengthening civil rights in relation to ethnic rights, which they believe are now too extensive.
Toal believes that in order to start talks on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU, Bosnia-Herzegovina must considerably change its constitutional structure, which is currently opposed by political parties in the Serb entity, which fear for the future of the entity. To have a future in the EU, they will have to accept the weakening of the Serb entity, if not its complete abolishment, Toal said.
Toal suggested organising Bosnia-Herzegovina as a decentralised state with some ministries seated in the Republika Srpska capital of Banja Luka.
He also proposed organising a referendum at which citizens would decide if they want the establishment of a constitutional congress which would draw up a new constitution under the supervision of the EU, so that Bosnia-Herzegovina could become a country ready for the EU.
Hitchner proposed ending the currently strong presence of the international community and decreasing its institutions, including the OSCE and the Office of the High Representative. The future role of the international community in the country would be determined by two goals: enabling Bosnian citizens to be able to make decisions on their own and giving the international community the task of supporting and enabling that process, he said.
Nevertheless, Hitchner believes that the powers of the High Representative, who now makes key decisions without the influence of domestic factors, should not be restricted. His powers should be abolished once Bosnia-Herzegovina is a completely sovereign state, he said, adding that this could be achieved by 2007.
Hitchner recommended that the USA, as the chief guarantor of the Dayton agreement, take over the leading role in supporting constitutional reforms in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and cooperate with other countries of the Peace Implementation Council and the EU to partially change the international mission in the country and help it reform its constitution and prepare for assuming full sovereignty and launching the process of stabilisation and association with the EU.