BOSNIAN PRESIDENCY FUNCTIONED WELL IN PAST YEAR

SARAJEVO, Dec 20 (Hina) - Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia- Herzegovina Ante Jelavic said on Monday the functioning of central bodies of authority in Bosnia-Herzegovina had significantly improved in the past year, and stressed that this was a good indicator of the readiness of elected state officials to gradually completely take on the responsibility for the consolidation of peace and the complete implementation of the Dayton Agreement. In a speech held in Sarajevo on Monday during a Christmas reception for representatives of bodies of authority in Bosnia-Herzegovina and members of the diplomatic corps, Jelavic said the work and cooperation of Presidency members had been improved which was best shown by joint appearances before the UN Security Council and the OSCE summit. Bosnia's foreign policy priority in the upcoming year remained the country's accession into the Council of Europe and the World Trade Organisation. On behalf of the diplomatic corps in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Swedish Ambassador Niels Eliasson relayed best wishes for the peace process to be consolidated in the upcoming year, pledging the international community's support. He, however, warned that Bosnia-Herzegovina was no longer the only priority of international efforts directed to several crisis points in the world, and called on Bosnia-Herzegovina's bodies of authority to win an adequate degree of support through their actions and results. (hina) lml