On the first day of his visit Rehn met the international community's High Representative, Paddy Ashdown. Speaking to reporters after the talks, Rehn said that Bosnia-Herzegovina had made headway in several areas, meeting some of the conditions for further progress to the European Union.
Rehn, however, noted that some significant problems remained to be resolved, including the lack of full cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
Ashdown agreed that the lack of cooperation with the Hague tribunal was the main obstacle on Bosnia-Herzegovina's path to EU membership.
Responding to a journalist's question, Ashdown said he did not expect the latest resignations of some Bosnian Serb officials to have a substantial impact on the implementation of the necessary reforms.