NOVANEWS
One more round of the EU-mediated talks between leaders of seven major political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina on how to implement the ruling of the European Court for Human Rights in the Sejdic-Finci case ended inconclusively in Sarajevo after midnight on Monday.
“We have made no progress,” said Martin Raguz of the Croatian Democratic Union 1990 (HDZ 1990) after the eight-hour negotiations, moderated by European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele, ended shortly after 1am Tuesday.
Raguz said that all participants in the talks agreed on the removal of the ethnic prefix from the constitutional provision on the election of members of the country’s presidency, but they could not agree on how to make safeguards against imposing one people’s will on another people.
“The key cause is a lack of political will on behalf of all of us,” Raguz said praising Fuele for investing huge efforts.
A Presidency member and senior official of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), Bakir Izetbegovic, confirmed the failure of the meeting.
We were so close to (agreement), but we did not make it, Izetbegovic said.
According to Izetbegovic, the main bone of contention was between Croat and Muslim (Bosniak) parties about dividing the ten cantons in the Croat-Bosniak Federation into two groups of so-called floating cantons.
“The Croats insisted on the definition of those two groups, which was not acceptable to the Bosniak parties,” Izetbegovic said.
Commissioner Fuele declined to comment on the failed talks.
“We have made no progress,” said Martin Raguz of the Croatian Democratic Union 1990 (HDZ 1990) after the eight-hour negotiations, moderated by European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele, ended shortly after 1am Tuesday.
Raguz said that all participants in the talks agreed on the removal of the ethnic prefix from the constitutional provision on the election of members of the country’s presidency, but they could not agree on how to make safeguards against imposing one people’s will on another people.
“The key cause is a lack of political will on behalf of all of us,” Raguz said praising Fuele for investing huge efforts.
A Presidency member and senior official of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), Bakir Izetbegovic, confirmed the failure of the meeting.
We were so close to (agreement), but we did not make it, Izetbegovic said.
According to Izetbegovic, the main bone of contention was between Croat and Muslim (Bosniak) parties about dividing the ten cantons in the Croat-Bosniak Federation into two groups of so-called floating cantons.
“The Croats insisted on the definition of those two groups, which was not acceptable to the Bosniak parties,” Izetbegovic said.
Commissioner Fuele declined to comment on the failed talks.
