BOSNIAN PRESIDENT ZELJKO KOMSIC OFFENDS EU BUREAUCRATS

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (March 1,2008) – The Bosnian President Zeljko Komsic has “offended the EU" by rejecting the European Union’s offer for a meeting, some media and politicians said yesterday.

Following this week's meeting of the Peace Implementation Council, PIC, the body overseeing Bosnia's compliance with the deal that ended the 1992-1995 Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian aggressions against Bosnia, the European Union's Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn invited top Bosnian leaders to stay in Brussels and discuss the country’s progress in its accession to the 27-member bloc.

While all other Bosnian politicians welcomed the invitation, the President of the Bosnian State Presidency Zeljko Komsic said he “does not need EU night school” and returned to Bosnia.

On Friday some Bosnian media and political leaders strongly criticised the move, calling it a “diplomatic scandal.”

“Zeljko Komsic has disgraced Bosnia,” read the headline of Bosnian daily Dnevni Avaz, listing numerous politicians from both the ruling and opposition parties who had lambasted President Komsic.

Some political leaders argue that President Komsic did not go to Brussels as a representative of his SDP party, but of Bosnia, and that it was extremely rude of him not to accept the invitation.

Despite President Komsic's absence the meeting went ahead with Rehn suggesting Bosnia could sign the Stabilisation and Association Agreement in April, widely seen as the first step to EU membership and become a candidate country in 2009.

"The President of the Bosnian Presidency Zeljko Komsic primarily did not plan to participate at the meetings in Brussels with EU Commissioner for Expansion Olli Rehn and some Bosnian political leaders, for he is of the opinion that one should not participate at the meetings of the “evening schools about the EU”-kind, President Komsic’s media advisor Irena Kljajic said.

Kljajic stated that President Komsic is of the opinion that it is not an adequate relationship of EU bureaucracy towards Bosnia.
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