MOSTAR, March 12 (Hina) - Representatives of the international community in Bosnia-Herzegovina warned on Friday that the country's admission to NATO's Partnership for Peace programme would be impossible unless it took urgent steps to
carry out the necessary reforms.
MOSTAR, March 12 (Hina) - Representatives of the international
community in Bosnia-Herzegovina warned on Friday that the country's
admission to NATO's Partnership for Peace programme would be
impossible unless it took urgent steps to carry out the necessary
reforms.#L#
The warning, the most open yet, came from High Representative Paddy
Ashdown, SFOR Commander General Virgil Packet, OSCE Mission Chief
Robert Beecroft and the Chairman of the Commission for Defence Reform,
James Locker, in a joint letter to Bosnia-Herzegovina's Presidency,
Chairman of the Ministerial Council Adnan Terzic, Foreign Minister
Mladen Ivanic and Security Minister Barisa Colak.
The letter said that there was a delay in the implementation of key
recommendations from the Defence Reform Commission, on the basis of
which NATO will judge Bosnia-Herzegovina's eligibility as a candidate
for membership of the Partnership for Peace at its summit in Istanbul
in June.
Bosnian authorities were criticised for failure to nominate a defence
minister at state level, who was described as a crucial candidate with
qualifications meeting NATO's expectations.
The international representatives also criticised the country's
failure to secure funds for defence institutions and the failure of
the Parliament of the Muslim-Croat Federation to pass the necessary
laws adjusting the Law on Defence at Federation level to that at state
level.
Both chambers of parliament of the Serb entity, Republika Srpska, were
criticised for not adopting amendments to the Law on Defence of
Republika Srpska.
The letter called on the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina to take all
the necessary steps to overcome the problems hampering the
implementation of reforms.
(Hina) vm sb