The Council
had an exchange of views on Bosnia and Herzegovina and made the following
conclusions:
- firstly, the
Council welcomed the appointment of Ambassador Valentin Inzko as EU
Special Representative/High Representative and discussed the continued
planning for a reinforced EU presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina;
- it reiterated
its full support to the European perspective of Bosnia and Herzegovina
and called upon the local political leaders to engage thoroughly and
with stronger determination on the necessary reform agenda in order for
the country to make substantial progress on its way towards the European
Union;
- it
encouraged Bosnia and Herzegovina to continue fully implementing the
Interim Agreement. On the other hand, the Council remaining deeply
concerned about the overall political situation in BiH and called upon
BiH's political leaders to refrain from nationalist rhetoric and
unilateral actions;
- it reconfirmed
its readiness for a transition from the Office of High Representative to
increased local ownership, supported by a reinforced European Union
presence, as soon as the conditions are met;
- it acknowledged
the progress of the EU preparations, presented by the SG/HR and the
Enlargement Commissioner, for its strengthened engagement in Bosnia and Herzegovina
under a reinforced, double-hatted EUSR/Head of the Commission Delegation;
- the Council
urged Bosnia and Herzegovina to maximise its efforts to complete fulfilment
of the five objectives and two conditions set by the Peace
Implementation Council Steering Board. To this aim, the Council strongly
encouraged continuation of the Prud/Odzak process, urging that the
widest possible consensus be found and called for the commitments
undertaken in this context to be rapidly translated into further
progress and concrete legislative results.
The Council
noted that, despite the challenging political environment, the security
situation in
Bosnia and
Herzegovina remained stable.
The Council
welcomed the progress on the preparatory work for a possible evolution of
Operation ALTHEA. It agreed to keep this work under regular review so that a
decision on the future of the operation could be taken once the necessary conditions
had been met. In this context, the Council reiterated that the possible
evolution of operation ALTHEA would need to take political developments into
account. It noted that cooperation with NATO on operation ALTHEA was
continuing to work smoothly.