"I very much appreciate the strong partnership that the United States and the European Union and individual countries such as Austria have with us in continuing our efforts to help bring about changes for the benefit of the people in Bosnia-Herzegovina," Secretary Clinton said at a news conference she held with Minister Spindelegger after their meeting in Washington.
"We all believe that there needs to be constitutional reform in order for the government to function more effectively," she said.
She recalled that during her recent visit to Sarajevo she expressed support to "the continuation of the Office of High Representative until there is such time when we believe that the government is willing to address the issues that are still unresolved amongst the various communities." The current High Representative is Austrian diplomat Valentin Inzko.
Spindelegger said that Austria "will keep the United States informed about all of the developments in Kosovo, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and all the other issues we have to face."
He added that during their meeting in the State Department they had agreed that they should pay "more attention to all that what is happening now, especially in Bosnia-Herzegovina. They are forming a new government, and this is the right moment just to give them advice that we are expecting constitutional reforms in Bosnia-Herzegovina. And we agreed about that. There is also the time to give some pressure to them to do so."
Clinton expressed her delight at the recent decision by the European Union to offer visa liberalization to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and thanked Austria for its participation in the international mission in Kosovo.