Brussels, 19/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 18 April, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton said she was really disappointed that no real progress had been made since her last visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina on 30 October 2012. During that visit she had called for efforts on the political direction of the country so as to have a united, stable, prosperous and multi-ethnic country, and a country that looks beyond political interests and rivalries. Highlighting the support offered by the EU, she regretted that the political parties had not turned their declared commitment into tangible action. Like Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle on 12 April (see EUROPE 10826), Ashton said that it seemed instead that Bosnia and Herzegovina had put the emphasis on ethnic interests.
Ashton therefore called on the citizens of the country to make their leaders responsible and she called on the leaders to listen, to take responsibility and to act together. She enjoined them not to put their country and future in danger.
Just as Füle had underlined, Ashton, too, reiterated that the issue of implementing the Sejdic-Finci ruling - in other words bringing the constitution into line with the European convention on human rights - was not going to disappear, but to get bigger and become more urgent. This compliance is an essential condition for establishing the stabilisation and association agreement and a credible request for candidate status. (CG/transl.fl)