Brussels, 13/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - Success for Catherine Ashton - the EU high representative for foreign affairs managed, on Friday 13 May, to convince the Serb leader in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, to abandon the referendum that he had planned to organise in Republika Srpska (RS) against the central judicial system of Bosnia. Speaking to the press in Banja Luka after a meeting with Ashton, Dodik announced that, for now, he believes the referendum is not necessary. Much to everyone's surprise, Ashton travelled to Bosnia on Thursday evening (12 May) after taking part in strategic dialogue with China, in Budapest. The leader of the Bosnian Serbs states he had received assurance from Ashton that reform of the Bosnian central justice system would be carried out taking the demands of the Serb authorities into account. Bosnian Serbs reproach the Bosnian central justice system for being biased and for mainly dealing with war crimes committed by Serbs during the inter-ethnic conflict from 1992-95. In mid-April, the RS parliament had decided to hold a referendum this June to question the country's central judiciary as well as the authority and the powers of the high representative for the international community, Valentin Inzko. On Thursday, the latter had announced his intention to cancel the decision of the RS authorities to hold the referendum. He had even threatened to remove Dodik. Ashton expressed relief that the “threat of a referendum” no longer loomed over them. She explained that the EU would open “structured dialogue on the functioning and work of the judiciary”. That structured dialogue, she explained, “is a defined institutional mechanism which tackles judicial issues in the enlargement countries”. “Any legitimate issues deserve serious analysis and adequate responses; therefore, we are willing to engage”, she added. At the end of the dialogue, the Commission “will issue recommendations to address any urgent shortcomings”, she said. The first meeting of dialogue should be held very soon in Banja Luka, under the chairmanship of Commissioner Stefan Füle. Ashton said they were convinced that dialogue would provide solutions to concrete problems and put the country back on course for EU membership. The prospect of Bosnian membership is “tangible” and the EU “shares your vision of its full membership”, Ashton stressed. She went on to say: “The way towards full membership is hard but we are ready to help”. (H.B./transl.jl)