se times
11/11/2010
The new members of Bosnia and Herzegovina's tripartite presidency -- Nebojsa Radmanovic, Zeljko Komsic and Bakir Izetbegovic -- were sworn in Wednesday, more than a month after the country's general elections.
(European Voice, Euronews, ONASA - 11/11/10; AFP, AP, DPA, AKI, B92, MIA - 10/11/10; Guardian - 08/11/10; Office of the High Representative - 05/11/10; RFE/RL - 04/11/10; Office of the High Representative - 03/11/10)
The new members of Bosnia and Herzegovina's tripartite presidency -- Nebojsa Radmanovic, Zeljko Komsic and Bakir Izetbegovic -- were sworn in Wednesday, more than a month after the country's general elections.
(European Voice, Euronews, ONASA - 11/11/10; AFP, AP, DPA, AKI, B92, MIA - 10/11/10; Guardian - 08/11/10; Office of the High Representative - 05/11/10; RFE/RL - 04/11/10; Office of the High Representative - 03/11/10)
The newly elected members of Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) tripartite presidency stepped into office Wednesday (November 10th), pledging to work together during their four-year mandate and towards their country's Euro-Atlantic integration.
Nebojsa Radmanovic, the representative of the Bosnian Serbs in the collective state body who won a second term in the October 3rd general elections, will be the first to hold the rotating eight-month chairmanship of the Balkan country's presidency. He will then hand over his duties to the Croat member of the presidency, Zeljko Komsic, who also won re-election last month. The only newcomer is Bakir Izetbegovic, the son of wartime president Alija Izetbegovic, who defeated hardline politician Haris Silajdzic in the vote for the presidency's Bosniak seat.
In their inaugural speeches on Wednesday, all three politicians vowed to work for BiH's EU integration, stressing the need for dialogue in the country, where nationalist rhetoric fuelled political tension over the past four years.
The Dayton Peace Accords, which ended the 1992-1995 conflict in BiH, established a state split into two fairly autonomous entities -- the Federation of BiH, shared by Bosniaks and Croats, and the Serb-run Republika Srpska (RS) -- bound by a weak central government.
One condition for the Balkan nation's EU accession progress is constitutional reform to strengthen state institutions and improve their efficiency. But reaching a compromise on the needed changes has proved impossible in the ethnically divided country so far.
Radmanovic, a member of the hardline Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), whose leader Milorad Dodik has repeatedly threatened to call a referendum on RS's secession from BiH, said Wednesday he would support all efforts to fulfil the EU requirements.
"I shall contest for the country to meet the necessary conditions for its candidate status on the path towards the European Union. Only with a candidate status, the accession process becomes irreversible for each country," he said.
But Radmanovic also called for patience and urged the EU to guide Bosnian decision-makers rather than impose solutions on them.
"Europe should have an advisory role and offer wider variety of solutions which meet the European standards, but not prescribe ready solutions to us and arbitrate our relations," he said.
Izetbegovic and Komsic, both considered moderate leaders, believe their country should take quick steps to make progress towards eventual EU and NATO membership.
"We have only one path ... this is the path of integration, unification, reconciliation, co-operation and dialogue," Izetbegovic said. "In one word, it is the European path, the path of accelerated adoption of European standards."
In his inaugural address, Komsic urged the EU and the United States to continue helping his country towards becoming a well-functioning state with strong institutions.
Nebojsa Radmanovic, the representative of the Bosnian Serbs in the collective state body who won a second term in the October 3rd general elections, will be the first to hold the rotating eight-month chairmanship of the Balkan country's presidency. He will then hand over his duties to the Croat member of the presidency, Zeljko Komsic, who also won re-election last month. The only newcomer is Bakir Izetbegovic, the son of wartime president Alija Izetbegovic, who defeated hardline politician Haris Silajdzic in the vote for the presidency's Bosniak seat.
In their inaugural speeches on Wednesday, all three politicians vowed to work for BiH's EU integration, stressing the need for dialogue in the country, where nationalist rhetoric fuelled political tension over the past four years.
The Dayton Peace Accords, which ended the 1992-1995 conflict in BiH, established a state split into two fairly autonomous entities -- the Federation of BiH, shared by Bosniaks and Croats, and the Serb-run Republika Srpska (RS) -- bound by a weak central government.
One condition for the Balkan nation's EU accession progress is constitutional reform to strengthen state institutions and improve their efficiency. But reaching a compromise on the needed changes has proved impossible in the ethnically divided country so far.
Radmanovic, a member of the hardline Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), whose leader Milorad Dodik has repeatedly threatened to call a referendum on RS's secession from BiH, said Wednesday he would support all efforts to fulfil the EU requirements.
"I shall contest for the country to meet the necessary conditions for its candidate status on the path towards the European Union. Only with a candidate status, the accession process becomes irreversible for each country," he said.
But Radmanovic also called for patience and urged the EU to guide Bosnian decision-makers rather than impose solutions on them.
"Europe should have an advisory role and offer wider variety of solutions which meet the European standards, but not prescribe ready solutions to us and arbitrate our relations," he said.
Izetbegovic and Komsic, both considered moderate leaders, believe their country should take quick steps to make progress towards eventual EU and NATO membership.
"We have only one path ... this is the path of integration, unification, reconciliation, co-operation and dialogue," Izetbegovic said. "In one word, it is the European path, the path of accelerated adoption of European standards."
In his inaugural address, Komsic urged the EU and the United States to continue helping his country towards becoming a well-functioning state with strong institutions.
"Our country has a need for their further support because we need to complete stabilisation, build more efficient institutions and accelarate the BiH accession to NATO and EU," he stressed.
The EU delegation in Sarajevo released Wednesday a message to the presidency members by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, reaffirming BiH's prospects of joining the 27-nation bloc one day.
"I trust that your active involvement ... will help BiH to address the key reforms that are needed to advance significantly on the path towards the EU," the AFP quoted the message as reading.
Meanwhile, High Representative Valentin Inzko, who has been holding high-level talks in Washington this week, was quoted as saying Wednesday that the main challenges BiH faces today are putting the country back on the Euro-Atlantic integration path and reaching a compromise on constitutional reform.
This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.
The EU delegation in Sarajevo released Wednesday a message to the presidency members by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, reaffirming BiH's prospects of joining the 27-nation bloc one day.
"I trust that your active involvement ... will help BiH to address the key reforms that are needed to advance significantly on the path towards the EU," the AFP quoted the message as reading.
Meanwhile, High Representative Valentin Inzko, who has been holding high-level talks in Washington this week, was quoted as saying Wednesday that the main challenges BiH faces today are putting the country back on the Euro-Atlantic integration path and reaching a compromise on constitutional reform.
This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.
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