The High Representative and EU Special Representative, Christian Schwarz-Schilling, will be in Berlin on Monday and Tuesday for meetings with senior German officials in advance of next week’s meeting of the Political Directors of the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council.

During his visit, Mr Schwarz-Schilling will brief on the outcome of the 1 October elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina , progress in the coalition-building process now underway, and prospects for fulfilling Stabilisation and Association Agreement requirements and successfully completing other reforms.

On Monday, the High Representative/EU Special Representative will meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s senior foreign policy adviser, Christoph Heusgen, to discuss Bosnia and Herzegovina ’s priorities, in terms of Euro-Atlantic integration, inward investment, job creation and poverty reduction – and its capacity to achieve them in the new, post-election political circumstances.

Also on Monday, the High Representative/EU Special Representative will meet the State Secretary at the Ministry for Economic Cooperation, Erich Stather.

On Tuesday, the High Representative/EU Special Representative will meet with Emily Haber, the senior Foreign Ministry official responsible for relations with Southeast Europe. Discussion will focus on the need to restore momentum to the reform process now that the elections are over, and the scope that currently exists to take individual reforms forward, including police reform and constitutional reform.