Members of parliament effectively supported the position of the Bosnian Serb government, which believes that the transfer of police powers from the Bosnian Serb entity, known as Republika Srpska, to the State of Bosnia-Herzegovina should begin in five years' time.
"The National Assembly of Republika Srpska commits the Government to continue talks on the police reform in Bosnia-Herzegovina pursuant to conclusions adopted on 30 May this year," the parliament said in a written statement from the session.
According to the conclusions from May, the reform of the police structures should be carried out in accordance with the constitutions of Republika Srpska and Bosnia-Herzegovina and should be based on European standards.
The statement said that talks on the police reform should continue "within the framework of institutions of Republika Srpska" and that "any model of police organisation in Bosnia-Herzegovina where police regions would extend across the inter-entity boundary line is unacceptable."
Following suggestions from the European Commission, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia-Herzegovina has proposed an agreement under which the powers of the entity police forces should be transferred to the state level, the police forces should be freed from political influence and the boundaries of police regions should not coincide with those of the country's two entities.