BOSNIA NEWS

SARAJEVO,Bosnia - The international community's High Representative and EU Special Representative in Bosnia Miroslav Lajcak said in an interview with Onasa News Agency that his main short-term priority is for Bosnia to sign Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union, noting that police reform is directly linked to that reform.

"The majority of issues on police reform have already been agreed, and Bosnia was very close to an agreement in March. Police reform is now more a technical issue which can and must be resolved quickly, because there is no other priority important for Bosnia than the EU path," Lajcak said.

"I hope next week to have a response from political leaders on their readiness to work seriously on the issue. We don't have much time if we intend to make progress during September. It is crucial that Bosnia does not allow the stalemate to continue and to itself to fall further behind the rest of the region on the road to the EU.”

The international community's High Representative and EU Special Representative in Bosnia Representative stressed that the European Union (EU) wants Bosnia to sign the SAA.

"The EU has finished its part of the job and now we want to see that an agreement can be clinched in Bosnia. The three EU principles are not a limiting factor - the principles provide enough space to enable an agreement to be reached."

Commenting the Bosnian constitutional change,Lajcak noted that a new solution must be found given that the 'April package' was not adopted.

"The extent to which a new solution will include the April package depends on Bosnia's politicians. In Europe there are various constitutional systems: unitary states, centralized states, federal states. There is no European standard for internal arrangements. Bosnia should find a model, which reflects its structure, its nature, the fact that its constitutional architecture is built on three constitutive nations and two entities. In the end we must adopt something, which is acceptable for all. I think we will accomplish nothing if accept or reject anything in advance."

The international community's High Representative and EU Special Representative in Bosnia recently set representatives of the authority and political parties in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton deadlines within which they must finally appoint a government. Ten months after the general elections in October the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton is still without a government.

"I met with the heads of the cantonal assembly in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton on their constant inability to appoint a government. My message was simple: ten months of indolence is too much! In Mostar, as well as at other levels, there is no vision of a normal European future. Politicians have nailed themselves to their positions despite of the interests of the citizens, ignoring the fact that compromise and dialogue are positive, and not negative sides of politics. I gave them an opportunity to show their maturity.In the twelve years since the Dayton Peace Agreement was signed there have been huge changes in Mostar, but not as quickly as we all hoped. Does this mean we should give up? No. The entire country is moving towards the EU, and that includes Mostar," Lajcak said.

He underlined that it is very significant for Bosnia that non-governmental organizations, such as the Centre for Civic Initiatives, are active.

"Most people view EU accession as the country's main priority. The NGO sector exists in order to remind politicians, who would prefer to avoid the difficult decisions necessary for progress toward the EU, of that fact. One of my goals is to strengthen this sector as a means of supporting the countries path to the EU."

On higher education, the Lajcak noted that EU member states have themselves the target of being the most competitive knowledge based economy in the world.

"The EU is investing huge efforts to reach that goal. The EU has agreed with the Bosnian authorities that higher education reform should have an exceptionally important place among the other requirements of the European partnership requirements," he said.

"The law currently before the Bosnian state parliament is the best possible compromise between Bosnia's international requirements and reality of the constitutional and political reality of this country. It creates a legislative framework for continuing higher education reform in Bosnia, in line with the demands of the Bologna process and the Lisbon convention, which will be applicable both in Bosnia and outside its borders. This presents a positive compromise, which can place Bosnia in the centre of European development. I hope the Bosnian parliament will see this as an exceptional opportunity," Lajcak said.

Asked if he will use Bonn powers during his mandate as High Representative, Lajcak stressed that these competences are part of his mandate.

" I have accepted my mandate in a whole and I have no right to reject a part of my mandate, particularly such an important part. It is necessary that the Bosnian citizens,politicians and international community representatives take responsibility. We all have our own responsibility towards the future of this country and we should act on that basis," Lajcak said.

"I will not hide the fact that I desire success. For me the measure of that success is Bosnia inside the stabilization and association process, a Bosnia which is making real progress. Why? Because I believe in the tangible benefits that the EU brings to ordinary people. I know the Slovakian experience from zero integration to full EU integration. I know how positive that is. I also believe that this is possible to reach here, and that the EU and Bosnia can only benefit from this process," the international community's High Representative and EU Special Representative in Bosnia Miroslav Lajcak concluded.

SARAJEVO,Bosnia - Bosnia's Council of Ministers Chairman Nikola Spiric again rejected to put the proposal of the decision on approving funds for organising the Bosnian Diaspora Days event, tabled by the Bosnian Human Rights and Refugees Minister Safet Halilovic, on the agenda for the Thursday’s session of the Bosnian Council of Ministers.

It has to be noted that Nikola Spiric is a Serbian living in Bosnia who has very often worked against Bosnia's interests in the past.

Halilovic reminded that the proposal of the decision received the support of the Bosnian Council of Ministers' Board for Internal Policy.

"Council of Ministers Chairman Nikola Spiric and Minister Slobodan Puhalac were against putting this decision on the agenda for the today's session and have by doing so blocked the possibility of effective cooperation between the Bosnian government and the World Association of the Bosnian Diaspora during the Bosnian Diaspora Days event, which opened in Sarajevo on Wednesday", Halilovic said.

Spiric's action, he added, represents his denial of the problem that more that 1 million refugees and displaced Bosnian citizens are living abroad, i.e. it is an attempt to block their human rights to return, dual citizenship, cultural and economic cooperation with the homeland,Halilovic said.

"This act creates a wrong image that Bosnia is neglecting almost a quarter of its citizens living outside the country. He is the head of the executive authority, which should work on resolving vital issues concerning more than a million Bosnian citizens in diaspora", the Bosnian Human Rights and Refugees Minister Safet Halilovic said.

This decision proposed that 15.000 Bosnian Marks be provided for helping organise the Bosnian Diaspora Days event.

LUKOMIR, Bosnia - Rahima Comor smiles while welcoming a small group of tourists in this tiny village. She knows she will not be seeing strangers for much longer.

In a few months from now this remote mountain settlement and its eight inhabitants will be cut off by snow that will loose its icy grip only in April next year.

Lukomir, with its traditional stone houses and wood-shingle roofs became a tourist attraction in recent years, as foreign tourists slowly started returning to Bosnia still recovering from the 1992-1995 Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian aggressions.

"It's fascinating!" said one tourist, 26-year-old Denis Hendriksen of the Netherlands as he walks through the village.

"It is interesting to see the contrast between these ancient homes with electricity meter and telephone cable attached to them," he added.

"People in my country are not looking for luxurious holidays any more. They want to see the untouched nature," said Hendriksen, who is currently touring in the western Balkans region.

Located on Bjelasnica mountain near the Bosnian capital Sarajevo on a 1,469 meter-high (4,800 feet) plateau on the edge of Rakitnica canyon, the pictouresque village is the highest settlement in the country.

Its inhabitants like doing things the old way. They wear traditional hand-made clothes that have been worn for centuries by Bosnians.

Comor, in her 60s, explaines the long process of handmaking the cloth. She does everything from shearing the wool off a sheep, to spinning, weaving, tailoring and in the end, painting the fabric.

The village had several dozen inhabitants before the 1992-95 Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian aggressions against Bosnia, but many of them left in search for easier jobs and education for their children, she lamented.

"God knows what will happen with the village," she said, a worried look on her face.

As soon as the group of tourists enters the village another woman approaches them, offering hand-knitted, multi-colour socks with traditional geometrical patterns.

"Women here developed a kind of competition in handcraft business, so we try to keep it fair," said Sebastian Venuat, a guide, as he prepared the group for a 90-minute walk to the river some 800 metres (2,650 feet) down the canyon formed by the Bjalasnica and Visocica mountains.

The Rakitnica's water is so crystal clear that one can drink it. It is also rich in crayfish and trout.

Besides from an accidental shelling on one occasion, this Bosnian village was practically untouched during the 1992-95 Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian aggressions against Bosnia that killed 200,000 people and devastated Bosnia's economy.

The gravel road to the barely accesible community leads from Bjelasnica ski resort, which hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics, via hills sprinkled with yellow and violet mountain flowers.

Since it lacks luxurious accommodation capacities and modern roads, Bosnia has to count on its cultural heritage and untouched nature, said Tim Clancy of the Sarajevo-based Green Visions eco-tourist agency.

"Eco-tourism is a great chance for Bosnia. It should be our brand," he added. His agency offers rafting on four rivers, village tourism, hiking and biking tours on several mountains in the country.

He reported growing numbres of tourists visiting Bosnia, with growing sales to tour groups from Britain, France and United States.

However, the official figures on tourism are still not very encouraging.Bosnia has recovered to only a third of its pre-war number of tourists, with half a million tourists in 2006 staying on average just over two days.

Clancy said his agency wanted to change that by offering "niche adventures", and extending the holiday season by including snow-shoeing.

Hamza Ajanovic of the Bosnian Foreign Trade Ministry approves. Unspoilt places like Lukomir disappeared from many other European countries long ago, he said.

But he complained over "symbolic" budgetary support for the tourism sector.

"There are so many problems in this country that there is hardly any attention left for tourism," said Ajanovic, who leads the Ministry's Tourism Department.

But the first positive moves were made this year, with a the launch of a worldwide advertising campaign promoting tourism: "Enjoy life - enjoy Bosnia", runs the slogan.

Tourism ministers and workers are working together on a tourism development strategy for Bosnia in 2008.The widespread grey economy also affects the sector.

"Some 70 percent of overnight stays are not registred," Ajanovic said.

It is estimated that the southern Bosnian town of Medjugorje, one of the world's most popular Catholic pilgrimage sites, attracts around one million tourists annually.

But accomodation providers there and touring agencies report and pay taxes for only about 50,000, Ajanovic noted.

Nevertheless, Ajanovic hopes that the country can achieve a lot in the future and become one of the top ten tourist destinations in Europe in the coming years.