Post by MiG on Mar 26, 2010 15:37:15 GMT -5
Bosnia: New round of talks on constitution
The European Union and the United States are launching a new initiative to change Bosnia's constitution to ease tensions in the war-scarred country, officials said Thursday.
Bosnian Croat leader Dragan Covic said officials in Washington and Madrid have drafted a proposal suggesting the changes. Spain currently presides over the EU.
The document will be on the table at a meeting of U.S. and EU envoys with the heads of the main Bosnian political parties at beginning of April in Sarajevo, Covic said.
The U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos will travel to Bosnia to "stress the inevitability of constitutional reforms for Bosnia-Herzegovina to be on a firm path toward the EU and NATO membership."
Revamping the constitution is considered essential if Bosnia is to become a fully functional state with an EU perspective.
Bosnia's constitution _ hastily written after the 1995 peace agreement that ended Bosnia's war _ divides the country into a Serb Republic and a Bosniak-Croat Federation, linked by a common parliament, a three member presidency and a council of ministers.
The division of authority remains unclear, and each ethnic group interprets it differently.
The Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats agree they want their country to eventually join NATO and the EU but they disagree on how to get there _ divided or unified.
Previous talks aimed at amending the country's constitution collapsed last year. The proposal put forward by international mediators suggested the strengthening of the state's central authority and was too drastic for the Serbs and too vague for the Bosniaks and Croats.
The Bosnian Serbs, who are seeking more autonomy of their ministate, threatened to secede their territories from the rest of the state in a referendum if they are forced to give up any of their autonomy.
The Bosniaks and Croats want to abolish the country's divisions completely. The Croats said that if this is not achieved, then they would want to create their own ministate instead of sharing it with the Bosniaks.
The European Union and the United States are launching a new initiative to change Bosnia's constitution to ease tensions in the war-scarred country, officials said Thursday.
Bosnian Croat leader Dragan Covic said officials in Washington and Madrid have drafted a proposal suggesting the changes. Spain currently presides over the EU.
The document will be on the table at a meeting of U.S. and EU envoys with the heads of the main Bosnian political parties at beginning of April in Sarajevo, Covic said.
The U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos will travel to Bosnia to "stress the inevitability of constitutional reforms for Bosnia-Herzegovina to be on a firm path toward the EU and NATO membership."
Revamping the constitution is considered essential if Bosnia is to become a fully functional state with an EU perspective.
Bosnia's constitution _ hastily written after the 1995 peace agreement that ended Bosnia's war _ divides the country into a Serb Republic and a Bosniak-Croat Federation, linked by a common parliament, a three member presidency and a council of ministers.
The division of authority remains unclear, and each ethnic group interprets it differently.
The Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats agree they want their country to eventually join NATO and the EU but they disagree on how to get there _ divided or unified.
Previous talks aimed at amending the country's constitution collapsed last year. The proposal put forward by international mediators suggested the strengthening of the state's central authority and was too drastic for the Serbs and too vague for the Bosniaks and Croats.
The Bosnian Serbs, who are seeking more autonomy of their ministate, threatened to secede their territories from the rest of the state in a referendum if they are forced to give up any of their autonomy.
The Bosniaks and Croats want to abolish the country's divisions completely. The Croats said that if this is not achieved, then they would want to create their own ministate instead of sharing it with the Bosniaks.
Source: www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1212336&lang=eng_news