The purpose of the discussions, which will involve prominent government officials and intellectuals, is to encourage a debate on the need to change the Dayton Constitution under which Bosnia-Herzegovina was divided into two entities, Swiss Ambassador Urs Breiter said.
The discussion heard opposing views. Professor Gajo Sekulic of Sarajevo University criticised the national criteria, proposing that Bosnia-Herzegovina be organised as a civic state with a citizen, rather than a nation, at its centre.
Mostar University Professor Bozo Zepic, however, said that ethnic criteria should also be taken into account. He called for establishing three republics within Bosnia-Herzegovina, arguing that that would settle the national issue and ensure stability of the country.
A letter was read out from Swiss Professor Georg Kreis, who had to cancel his visit. Kreis proposed that constitutional reforms should provide for the organisation of Bosnia-Herzegovina as "a state nation" rather than a country consisting of three constituent ethnic groups -- the Bosniaks, the Serbs and the Croats -- as is now the case.