The President and two Vice-Presidents of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), and the Collegium of the FBiH House of Peoples today failed to agree to concrete steps that would begin to unlock the appointment of the missing judges to the FBiH Constitutional Court and vital national interest panel.

Following a three hour meeting in Sarajevo today, High Representative Valentin Inzko highlighted that there are nevertheless steps that could be agreed which would see the current situation unblocked, if the actors responsible for filling the vacant seats on the court would put the interests of the Federation and its citizens first and agree.

The obligation to nominate judges will not go away, and it is the responsibility of the President, the Vice-Presidents and the Collegium of the FBiH House of Peoples to meet it. The High Representative appealed to them today to step up the level of their communication in order that they can come to an agreement on how to move forward.

“None of those involved in this process is without blame for the fact that this basic judicial institution is not functioning in full capacity,” High Representative Inzko said, adding that, “at various times over the last four years all of the political parties represented here have played their role in obstructing appointments to the court because of their wish to install judges over whom they could ensure political control or influence.”

Now all the parties involved must now put the basic functionality of the institutions and the interests of the Federation citizens first. “Never before has the need for a fully functioning Constitutional Court and Vital National Interest Panel been greater,” he said.

The International Community had earlier expressed its strong dissatisfaction the with key institutions of the Federation for failing to fill the vacancies on the Federation Constitutional Court and the Vital National Interest Pane, and welcomed the High Representative’s intention to bring together FBiH officials to hear how they intend to move forward with these appointments.

Attending the meeting were FBiH President Živko Budimir, FBiH Vice Presidents Mirsad Kebo and Svetozar Pudarić and the members of the FBiH House of Peoples Collegium; Radoje Vidović (Chair); Jasmin Smailbegović (Deputy Chair); Amir Zukić (Chair of the Bosniak Caucus); Mira Ljubijankić (Chair of the Serb Caucus); Luka Faletar (Chair of the Croat Caucus).