OHR Comment on Police Directorate
Session Yesterday
The focus of the discussion in the Police
Directorate yesterday was on the first EC principle of police reform which
states that all legislative and budgetary competencies for all police matters
must be vested at the State level. This principle was adopted by the RSNA
together with the BiH and FBiH legislatures
The meaning of the first principle is
self-evident: only the BiH Parliamentary Assembly will adopt laws on all police
matters in BiH with no possibility of entity or cantonal laws on police matters,
and only the state will adopt the budget for all police matters, and all police
bodies will be funded through this budget. However it seems that RS PM is not
ready to accept this, despite the October 5 Political agreement adopted by the
RSNA, with the support of SNSD and SDS votes.
The Directorate members negotiated
all day in good faith and in the end were voting on a text that was the result
of a compromise, a text which included comments from all sides including the RS.
Nothing in the actions the Directorate took yesterday excluded proposals from
the RS.
The Directorate is well behind in it’s
work because of RS rejection of proposals brought to the table, yet the RS has
failed to bring to the table a single proposal that would meet the three EC
principles. Continuing down this path is the surest way to delay BiH’s EU
integration process. That is why if there is no consensus then the
Directorate is bound to move ahead with the support of the majority of BiH’s
technical police experts. It is in the competence of the Police Directorate to
complete its task on time.
As you know the High Representative is in
Vienna
today where he is lobbying
EU Ministers of Interior to reassess the visa regime in place for BiH citizens.
The signal that hat BiH is rejecting a Police reform that is in line with EU
standards and that aims to ensure the country can police it’s own territory can
only have a negative impact on any possibility of easing the visa
regime.
All in BiH need to sit up and take note
of the EC’s Decision yesterday with regard SCG: it clearly shows that the EC is
ready to stand behind its conditionality.
