BOSNIA NEWS

LISBON,Portugal - The Bosnian Foreign Affairs Minister Sven Alkalaj said yesterday in Lisbon that Bosnia should be ready to sign an agreement that marks the first step towards EU membership by the end of the year.

"The technical negotiations have been successfully completed. The reform of the police is 95 pct accomplished and we are keeping channels open to reach a deal on the remaining five percent," Alkalaj told a press conference following talks with his Portuguese counterpart Luis Amado in Lisbon.

"I think that we will achieve it (the reform) during the Portuguese presidency' of the European Union in the second half of 2007,he said.

The reunification of police forces, ethnically divided since the 1992-1995 Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian aggressions against Bosnia, is the main reform requested by Brussels to sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), the first step towards EU membership.

While Bosnians and Croatians support the reforms,Serbians living in Bosnia unanimously oppose them,thus blocking Bosnia on its way to the EU membership.

Bosnia completed the technical phase of SAA negotiations in December 2005. "Europe is very important for Bosnia and all of Bosnia has its place in Europe," the Bosnian Foreign Affairs Minister Sven Alkalaj said, adding that "the enlargement of the EU to all the Balkan countries is necessary for the long-term stability of the region".

The Portuguese Foreign Affairs Minister Luis Amado expressed Portugal's desire 'to accelerate the process' of agreement with Bosnia and underlined the importance to the EU of integrating the Balkans.

WASHINGTON,USA – The United States of America will continue to provide help for Srebrenica and its citizens for nobody can deny the crime of genocide that had occurred there. However, we do not want to make this issue a political game, Clint Williamson,the U.S. State Department's Ambassador for War Crimes Issues said in an interview to Voice of America.

”It is clear that genocide happened in Srebrenica. That was confirmed by the ICTY and the ICJ on several occasions. This fact was especially confirmed by the ICTY at the individual proceedings and it cannot be ignored. Whoever ignores the crime of genocide is in a huge denial”, Williamson said.

”The issue of Srebrenica status needs to be solved within the Bosnian state institutions. Constitution and Bosnia's laws determine municipalities, so every change within a municipality needs to be solved by the constitution. The United States is worried about Srebrenica. We understand that genocide took place there and we are aware that the people have suffered a lot. We will continue providing help for Srebrenica and its citizens, but we do not want to see those people’s ordeal politicized. They have suffered enough and cannot now become a ball in someone’s political game”, Clint Williamson said.

”We are afraid that the entire issue has already been politicized. Some harsh statements have been said and that does not contribute the situation. This issue needs to be solved through a reasonable dialogue, with active participation of all the people living in the area”,he added.

”The rhetoric that goes with this situation has not been helpful. It has not been helpful in moving ahead and it has not helped the sustainable return. Moving forward does not mean forgetting about the crimes. Justice needs to be done, perpetrators need to be punished. Crimes of this scale must not be forgotten. Justice needs to be done, perpetrators need to be punished, but it must not be turned into political game of placing the blame”, Williamson said.

SARAJEVO,Bosnia – Edin Music, the FBIH Entity Minister of Refugees and Displaced Persons signed yesterday in Sarajevo agreements with the Zenica-Doboj Canton and Teocak and Jajce municipality representatives for the purpose of showing an intention of the ministry to fully support the reconstruction of infrastructural objects and enable the return and contribute the strengthening of the local communities.

Minister Music signed an Agreement on Joining the Funds for “Reconstruction of Apartment Facilities for the Purpose of Return to and from the Zenica – Doboj Canton Area 2007” Project Implementation with Josip Martic, Minister of Work, Social Policy and Refugees in the Zenica-Doboj Canton.

Project is 600.000 Bosnian Marks(BAM) worth. 30 apartment facilities will be reconstructed.

The Zenica-Doboj Canton Government ensured BAM 350.000 and will implement the project. Federal Ministry ensured BAM 250.000. Joining the funds has the purpose of solving the issues of socially most endangered refugee and returnee families.

Minister Music also signed agreements on co-financing the project of sustainable return in the Teocak and Jajce municipalities.

The agreement signed for the Teocak municipality is BAM 225.000 and the money will be used for construction of two school playgrounds, as well as for the Stari Teocak – Tursunovo Brdo and Teocak – Prosjeka road reconstruction.The FBIH Entity Ministry ensured BAM 200.000 and the Teocak municipality ensured BAM 25.000.

The Jajce sustainable return project is BAM 150.000 worth.The FBIH Entity Ministry ensured BAM 80.000 and the Jajce municipality ensured BAM 70.000.

SARAJEVO,Bosnia - The international community's High Representative and EU Special Representative in Bosnia, Christian Schwarz-Schilling, will speak before the Bosnian Parliament today.

Eldar Subasic, OHR Spokesman said at a press conference in Sarajevo that “the speech will be his last address to the Bosnian Parliament before the end of this mandate on 30 June. It will be an opportunity to address the slowdown of reforms and the ensuing political crisis in which Bosnia has found itself." He added that “the High Representative and EU Special Representative will cast a critical eye at the work of Parliament since his last address to that body in May 2006, and express his concern over the inflammatory political rhetoric of the last few months.

"Christian Schwarz-Schilling will also highlight some of the major successes and failures during the past 15 months, before outlining a way out of the current political stagnation, which – as you all know – includes quick progress on police restructuring and resuming the process of constitutional reform.”,he said.