BiH politicians criticised over lack of police reform

03/09/2007

Unless a deal on police reform is reached quickly, Bosnia and Herzegovina's chances of signing a key pre-accession agreement with the Union will be jeopardised, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn warned.

(AP, Reuters, AFP, DPA, RFE/RL - 31/08/07; Office of the High Representative - 30/08/07)

"Without an agreement on police reform in accordance with the EU's principles, the EU is unable to conclude a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina," EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said. [Getty Images]

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn voiced regret Friday (August 31st) that a new draft proposal on police reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), a key condition for the country's EU accession progress, has been rejected.

"This has set back Bosnia and Herzegovina's chances of concluding a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA)," the commissioner said in a statement. "Bosnia and Herzegovina now risks falling farther behind its neighbours and ending up last on the road to Europe."

His statement came a day after leaders of the two most influential Bosniak parties -- Haris Silajdzic of the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina (SBiH) and Sulejman Tihic of the Party for Democratic Action (SDA) -- rejected a new police reform proposal.

They said that the plan, put forward by High Representative Miroslav Lajcak, is not in line with the principles set out by the EU and that it favours Republika Srpska (RS) police structures.

"This is not a police reform, this is legalisation of the ethnically divided police forces," Tihic said. "We cannot accept that."

RS Prime Minister Miroslav Dodik, however, also rejected the proposal as "completely unacceptable" and "unconstitutional".

"His initiative does not back our stance on the police reform and does not represent a compromise solution," Reuters quoted him as saying at a news conference.

In 2005, the EU made clear that it would move to build closer ties with BiH only after the country restructures its police forces in line with European standards. The European Commission (EC) has laid down three principles aimed at ensuring police efficiency in a country whose two entities -- RS and the Federation of BiH -- have their own police forces.

The EU wants all legislative and budgetary competencies for all police matters to be vested at the state level, that there be no political interference in the operational work of police and that police zones be established on the basis of professional criteria, rather than on ethnicity.

Attempts to reach a deal in the past were blocked mainly by Bosnian Serb parties. Viewing police reform as a step towards the abolition of RS, they have blocked every proposal for the unification and reorganisation of the country's two forces. Dismissing claims that his plan violates principles laid down by the EU, Lajcak voiced disappointment Thursday with Silajdzic and Tihic's reaction to his "fair and balanced" proposal.

"There are no losers in this proposal," the high representative said in a statement. "The only winners would be the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who would benefit from the initialling of BiH's Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union."

Lajcak, who also serves as the EU special representative in BiH, assumed his post in July, pledging to help the country move forward on its EU integration path. Last month, he warned that although SAA talks were completed in December, the accord will not be signed this year if there is no agreement on police reform by the end of September.

Voicing support for the proposal drawn up by Lajcak in a bid to facilitate a deal, Rehn also insisted that it was in line with the EU principles.

"I strongly encourage all political parties to continue to work constructively with Mr. Lajcak on the basis of his proposal and reach a comprehensive agreement without delay," he said in his statement Friday.