Representatives of eight political parties signed a joint declaration pledging to launch the process of constitutional reform which will increase the powers of state authorities and direct the work of the parliament and the state presidency.
The declaration reads that the parties have decided on constitutional changes to enable Bosnia-Herzegovina to become a full member of the EU and NATO as soon as possible, which requires strengthening state institutions with the aim of establishing more economic and efficient state authority and protecting the human rights of all citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The EU's advisory body known as the Venice Commission earlier this year recommended the reform of Bosnia-Herzegovina's political system, describing it as neither rational, nor efficient nor sustainable.
The party leaders attending the Washington talks managed to reach agreement only on a watered-down declaration, removing from its original version concrete regulations which increase the powers of the central government and the prime minister, replace the current three-member presidency with a single president and establish a more efficient parliament.
The declaration binds the parties to constitutional changes only in principle, while concrete solutions remain to be agreed by the country's leaders. Constitutional changes should be adopted by March 2006 so that the country could be ready for elections in October that year.
The declaration is the result of talks which lasted several months and were initiated and mediated by the United States, which believes that time has come to upgrade the Dayton constitution and enable Bosnia-Herzegovina to function normally as a united country.
Under Secretary at the State Department Nicholas Burns expressed satisfaction with the document, saying that it was very important for the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina. This is a great event for the future of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burns said at the Bosnian Embassy in Washington on Monday evening, after the signing of the declaration.
All participants in the talks expressed satisfaction with the document.
The leader of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia-Herzegovina (HDZ BH), Barisa Colak, who was the last to sign the document, told reporters that he signed the document after US officials had promised to give an additional statement supporting the continuation of constitutional changes.
The declaration reads that these are only first steps and that the signatories are aware that further changes to the country's constitution are required to meet the criteria for joining the EU.
Colak and his party, as well as other Bosnian Croat political forces, advocate the abolishment of the country's two entities and seek fundamental changes to the country's structure to ensure a more equal position for the Croat community, which they believe is the direction in which further changes should go.
The country's structure was not a subject of the Washington talks, and neither was the issue of its two entities.
Sulejman Tihic, leader of the strongest Bosnian Muslim party - the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) - supported the declaration, saying that it formalised the parties' wish to change the constitution, which he said was the weakest part of the Dayton agreement. He said that the SDA too wanted the abolishment of the entities.
The Serb member of the state presidency, Borislav Paravac, said that concrete solutions for constitutional changes, which are yet to be agreed, should satisfy all three communities in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Paravac said that the Dayton agreement had not been exhausted yet and that the abolishment of the entities did not suit the Bosnian Serbs. He went on to say that there two concepts - while the Serb side was insisting on strong entities, the Bosniak side wanted strong central authority and weak entities, with the Croats seeking their position and advocating the abolishment of the entities or a separate entity for themselves.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet on Tuesday with the Bosnian political leaders to mark the signing of the declaration.
The declaration was signed by Serb leaders Dragan Cavic of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS), Milorad Dodik of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), and Mladen Ivanic of the Party of Democratic Progress (PDP), Muslim leaders Adnan Terzic of the SDA, Safet Halilovic of the Party for Bosnia-Herzegovina and Zlatko Lagumdzija of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and Croat leaders Barisa Colak of the HDZ and Mate Bandur of the Croat People's Community (HNZ).
The three members of the state presidency, Ivo Miro Jovic, Sulejman Tihic and Borislav Paravac, signed the declaration as well.