[ Bosnia-Herzegovina ]

W. Petritsch on November, 17th:

... on the other hand, I am convinced that it is necessary to produce a reform which is homegrown, which is owned and defended by the local politicians and, above all, the civil society. I see more chances and a greater opportunity to activate the civil society, many of the nongovernmental organizations, academia -- the young generation, in particular -- to contribute to this reform process.

When it comes to this idea of a kind of totally new constitution, I am kind of skeptical -- because we have been talking about "Dayton II" now for many, many years and what is the outcome? Nothing.

In the meantime, during my [tenure], but now also under my successor, many, many incremental steps toward a more functional Bosnia-Herzegovina have been taken -- usually the international community has been in the lead. Now the leadership, so to speak, has to change. We need to see local forces in the lead in the reform process.

And the third point which I would like to make in this context is that we now have a very clear European Union perspective for Bosnia-Herzegovina. The neighborhood all around Bosnia-Herzegovina is moving pretty fast closer to the European Union. Within a couple of days, the stabilization and association process with Bosnia-Herzegovina -- as the last country from the region -- will begin. So I believe this is now the perspective, and we should put the emphasis on European integration and then ask the next important question: What are the instruments, what are the functions that a state which wants to successfully negotiate with the European Union -- what should such a state, institutions, [and] government look like?

Photo source:
RFE/RL