The Steering Board concluded at a meeting in Brussels that Bosnia-Herzegovina could not be given the green light for the next decisive move in the process of stabilisation and association with the European Union until the country's authorities agreed a model of police reform in compliance with the criteria endorsed by the European Commission.
Police reform in Bosnia-Herzegovina has been under discussion for more than six months, and the main obstacle to the unification of 13 different police agencies has been the refusal by the Bosnian Serb authorities to agree to the transfer of police authority from the entity to the state level.
The conclusions of the Steering Board, a summary of which was released today by the Office of the High Representative in Sarajevo, are seen primarily as a warning to the authorities in Banja Luka that their position was preventing Bosnia-Herzegovina from opening stabilisation and association talks with the European Union.
The Steering Board also criticised the Bosnian Serb authorities for refusing to agree to the abolition of the defence ministries and the military commands at the level of Republika Srpska and te Muslim-Croat Federation.
"The Steering Board reiterates that the abolition of the entity ministries of defence by the end of 2005 is a requirement laid out in the High Representative's decision (...) in order to address the systemic weaknesses in Bosnia-Herzegovina's security structures," the Steering Board said in its conclusions.
The Bosnian Serb authorities were commended for ensuring the transfer of an increasing number of war crimes indictees to the Hague tribunal, but at the same time it was underlined that cooperation with the tribunal must be full, which includes "Karadzic and Mladic facing justice in The Hague without delay."
"The road to the EU and NATO, on which the future of Bosnia-Herzegovina depends, runs through The Hague," the Peace Implementation Council Steering Board concluded.