Reforms must be implemented

As you know, the High
Representative returned last night together with Prime Minister Terzic, from a
visit to Brussels, where they held talks with senior EU officials including
Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn and High Representative for Common Foreign
and Security Policy Javier Solana.

The High Representative has made it clear that there is still a path
forward for BiH out of the present political impasse – and if it follows this
path the prospect of this country’s European future being lost as a result of
the stalled police reform negotiations can be
avoided.

The
High Representative, the Prime Minister and the European Commission have made it
their joint ambition that by the tenth anniversary of Dayton BiH to be in a
position to launch negotiations.

This is an ambitious goal but an achievable one – it can only be met if
the political leadership renews its commitment to getting this country
irrevocably onto the EU integration path, with all the benefits to citizens that
that entails.

In Brussels,
BiH received the renewed commitment of the European Commission to support this
country in its efforts to complete the necessary reforms, and there was a clear
and resolute agreement that BiH can and must catch up with the rest of the
Balkans and cross the threshold into the European process by the tenth
anniversary of Dayton.

High Representative Solana and Commissioner Rehn made it
clear that the EU remains firmly committed to a European future for the western
Balkans. And BiH can still be part of that future. 

Equally clear was the EU’s unchanged position on PBS
reform and police reform – these must be
completed.

The
clock is ticking; there is not a moment to lose. If BiH politicians do the right
thing, they will have the full support of
Brussels.

PDHR to Present Banking Award

The
Principal Deputy High Representative, Larry Butler, will be one of the
presenters at an award ceremony being held in Sarajevo today to recognize
excellence in the banking industry.

Ambassador
Butler will, among other things, highlight the fact that a vibrant
banking sector is the sine qua non of a sustained economic recovery.
Banks in BiH are beginning to finance growth. Interest rates are falling
– a reflection of BiH’s better economic performance and lower economic risk, as
well as increased and beneficial competition among banks. The message from this
and other developments is that BiH is increasingly open for business – and this
must be translated into greater prosperity for
citizens.