BOSNIANS BEGIN AVOIDING NATIONALIST SLOGANS - BARRY

( Editorial: --> 8473 ) SARAJEVO, Sept 6 (Hina) - Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission chief in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Robert Barry, said on Sunday that citizens are avoiding nationalist slogans more than even before. He said he believed next week's elections will result in significant changes to the benefit of the citizens's will. Barry told a session of the association of independent intellectuals in Sarajevo, "Krug 99", that politicians were tired of elections, not the people. Those who will be elected think they will remain in office forever, he added. Voters must realise that many unresolved issues will surface only after the elections. Primarily there will be results in the true progress in the return of refugees, followed by the functioning of joint institutions and reform of the judicial system. Barry stressed that the international community will in 1999 transfer authority to local institutions in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which also means a permanent electoral law. This law might cause contentions and opposition in Bosnia's entities, because it has to be passed for the whole of the country. Without an operative electoral law, there is no state, Barry said. He also added that this was a condition for Bosnia-Herzegovina's admission into the Council of Europe. (hina) lml 061755 MET sep 98