LAJCAK ADDRESSED EU POLITICAL AND SAFETY COMMITTEE

BRUSSELS, Belgium (September 12,2007) - “The political elite of Bosnia all say they want European integration, but there is an obvious lack of commitment to promote the EU agenda and to search for common ground”, the International Community's High Representative and EU Special Representative in Bosnia,Miroslav Lajčák told the EU Political and Security Committee, one of the EU's key foreign policy bodies, in Brussels yesterday.

Despite wide support for EU integration among the population, Bosnia's political leaders are still unable to cooperate to achieve progress on the road to Brussels,Lajcak said.

“Diametrically opposed and incompatible views of the main leaders are crowding out moderate positions, which makes it difficult to reach agreement on the key issues”, Lajčák said, citing police reform as the obvious example of the current stalemate.

“Police reform is important in its own right, but it is also vital as the door opener for the initialling and signing of the SAA.The good news is that the process is going on and that we have everyone on board. What is not clear is whether domestic leaders are committed to achieve a result,” Lajcak said.

The International Community's High Representative and EU Special Representative in Bosnia reiterated his commitment to reaching an agreement on police reform by the end of September, which would represent “a key confidence-building measure” and “reverse the current negative trend that has prevailed since April 2006”. It would also create the conditions in which constitutional reform could be discussed in a meaningful way,he stressed.

At the same time, Miroslav Lajcak emphasized that “there is no alternative to achieving progress. Not for Bosnia, and not for the EU. We cannot afford to look an as a key country in the Western Balkans goes backward. Stability in this region is crucial to our own security,” Lajcak concluded.