Bosnia within days of a constitution deal, president says
MARK BEUNDERMAN
09.03.2006 @ 17:44 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The president of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sulejman Tihic, said that his country is "just about" to sign a deal on constitutional reform which is crucial for Bosnia's longterm ambition of joining the EU.
"We need only seven days more perhaps," he said in an interview with EUobserver on Wednesday (8 March).
Sulejman Tihic - hopes that the SAA can be signed before the end of the year
(Photo: NATO)
The planned constitutional reform would reinforce the central Sarajevo institutions of the country at the expense of the country's ethnic "entities" and regional cantons.
Both EU and Bosnian diplomats have indicated that a revamped constitution is a precondition for the completion of Bosnia's ongoing talks on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU, a first legal step towards membership.
The envisaged constitutional reform would end the current political fragmentation which impedes the country's capacity to meet EU criteria, Mr Tihic indicated.
"We will create a stronger state of Bosnia and Herzegovina with stronger institutions to guarantee the proper meeting of the EU's requirements," he said.
Last obstacle
According to the Bosnian leader, the last remaining hurdle for an agreement over the new constitution is differences between the main ethnic groups - the Bosniaks (Bosnian muslims), Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats - on the election procedure of a newly created single president for the country.
Mr Tihic currently chairs a presidency consisting of three members of different ethnic communities, which under the new deal would be abolished and replaced by one president with two vice-presidents.
But although the main ethnic groups have all agreed to the single presidency, the Croats are opposing direct election of the president, a Bosnian official said.
The Croats fear that they, as the smallest community of the three, will be outvoted. Instead they favour a president elected by the Bosnian parliament, the official explained, but he pointed to a "very good atmosphere" in ongoing talks to resolve the issue.
Kosovo question
Mr Tihic said that with the constitutional deal in sight, he is "optimistic" that the SAA can be signed "before the end of the year."
In October, Bosnia will hold general elections which are seen as another big test for the stability of the country.
The EU is considering reducing its current 6,700- strong peacekeeping force in the country to about 2,500 "in the medium term" if the elections go well, Austrian defence minister Gunther Platter said on Monday (6 March).
But asked whether this is a good idea, Mr Tihic was cautious, mentioning an agreement over the future status of Kosovo as a condition for EU troop reduction in Bosnia.
"I think the elections will pass well in October...I also expect the Kosovo issue to be resolved by then, and then we can speak about the reduction of troops."
The comment follows warnings from some Bosnian Serbs that their entity within Bosnia, the Republika Srpska, will declare itself independent if Kosovo gets independence from Serbia.
Mr Tihic rebuffed these calls, saying "The status of Kosovo cannot be connected to the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina in any way."
French referendum
After this year's many policy challenges for the Bosnian leadership, it might face an additional longer-term obstacle on its long road to EU membership from Paris.
France recently introduced an amendment to its constitution obliging a popular referendum on every further enlargement of the EU after the entry of Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia.
The move was initiated by French president Jacques Chirac to soothe voters' fears of uncontrolled accession of Turkey - but it could hit western Balkans countries equally hard.
Mr Tihic played down the risk of unpleasant surprises, speculating that the French constitutional provision could be removed again
"It's the current provision in the French constitution. Perhaps the situation in France will have changed when Bosnia and Herzegovina will be in a position to join the EU."
He added that Mr Chirac had given him his "full support" for Bosnian membership, saying "I don't think that France and the French people will be against Bosnia and Herzegovina becoming a member of the EU, because 84 French soldiers lost their lives in peacekeeping in Bosnia and Herzegovina."