EUROPEN UNION WELCOMES MOSTAR DECLARATION ON POLICE REFORM

BRUSSELS, Belgium (October 31,2007) – The EU welcomed the agreement between Bosnia's major political parties that return the stalled process of police reform to the right track.

Spokesperson for the EU Enlargement Commission Olli Rehn said that the European Commission has still not studied into detail the declaration signed in the southern Bosnian city of Mostar on Sunday.

However, she said that the “Commission welcomes the spirit of agreement and compromise demonstrated by the political leaders in Mostar. The strong political consensus is essentially in favour of the fulfilment of conditions for faster integration with the EU”, spokesperson Krisztina Nagy said.

The European Commission is to release its annual report on progress of Bosnia in the stabilisation and association process on November 6.

Nagy refused to comment on the wider aspect of the political crisis in Bosnia, “We are clearly monitoring all developments very closely”, she said.

The presidents of Bosnia's major political parties announced on Sunday that they have signed a declaration which meets the EU requirements for the police reform in Bosnia, which is now consisted of two separate forces, to be organised at the state level, financed from a single budget and to be fully separated from any political influence.

The agreement has come after failed attempts to reach an agreement on police reform during the past three years.

The European Union warned Bosnia that it would not sign the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, which represents the first step towards EU membership, without the police reform.

The International Community's High Representative in Bosnia Miroslav Lajcak described the Sunday’s agreement as a “positive impulse” from the political leaders on moving Bosnia closer to the membership in the European Union.