Chairman-in-Office welcomes progress in Bosnia and Herzegovina but warns of need to tackle remaining obstacles

SARAJEVO, 27 September 2005 - In the course of a day-long visit to Sarajevo, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, noted Bosnia and Herzegovina's progress in many areas, particularly defence reform, while pointing out however, the need to tackle remaining obstacles for future progress and integration into European and trans-Atlantic institutions.

"The OSCE recognizes accomplishments as well the progress being made by Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) with the defence reforms and respect for the OSCE politico-military commitments, but there remain challenges ahead," said the Chairman-in-Office.

"The success of European integration would be an outcome of the normalization of the region, following a decade of peace implementation and institution-building efforts," he added.

A European future is the only realistic long term solution for Bosnia and Herzegovina and this region. Slovenia strongly supports the EU perspectives for this region.

Minister Rupel did not avoid mentioning some remaining serious hurdles that have become more than evident over the last 12 months: "While the most talked about hurdle is still police reform, full co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the implementation of some of Council of Europe post-accession requirements in the area of education remain outstanding".

During his meetings, the Chairman-in-Office touched upon the role of the OSCE Mission, which he said would continue to implement its current mandate, focusing on democracy-building, human rights and rule of law as well as fulfilment of BiH's commitments under the politico-military dimension of the OSCE.

He met members of the BiH Presidency, Foreign Minister Mladen Ivanic, members of the Council of Ministers, High Representative Lord Ashdown, Head of the European Commission Delegation to BiH, Ambassador Michael Humphreys as well as other key members of the international community.