THREE LAWS CONDITIONS FOR BOSNIA'S RAPPROCHEMENT WITH EU

SARAJEVO, June 11 (Hina) - The European Union has given Bosnian authorities twenty days in which they are to adopt three important laws if they want a feasibility study to start being drawn up by the end of the year as a basic precondition for the country's further rapprochement with the EU. #L# The EU Mission Chief in Bosnia, Hans Joerg Kretschmer, said on Tuesday, after talks with Bosnia's top officials, that the adoption of the laws on civil service, radio and television public service and Bosnia's ombudsman was the foundation for any further talks on Sarajevo drawing closer to Brussels. If the parliament adopts these laws, the European Commission could by the end of summer recommend the further drafting of a feasibility study, Kretschmer said. The three laws are a part of 18 items the EU gave to Bosnian authorities as guidelines. Some of the preconditions for further talks on rapprochement with the EU have been fulfilled, but the three laws, which are contentious for EU, had to be imposed by the former high representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, before he left Bosnia, because of a lack of political will in the country. The EU is requesting that the Bosnian parliament adopt and ratify the laws. If it does not do so by the end of June, a discussion on drawing up a feasibility study for Bosnia would not be on the European Commission's agenda before next year, Kretschmer said. The chairman of the Bosnian Presidency, Beriz Belkic, told reporters that representatives of all bodies of authority at the state and entity levels had said they were prepared to support the adoption of the three laws. "I expect them to fulfil their promise," Belkic said. Alongside Yugoslavia, Bosnia is the last among south-eastern European countries according to the degree of development of institutional relations with the EU, despite the great financial support it is receiving from Brussels. (hina) lml