Mr. President,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Central and Eastern European Countries associated with the European Union, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the associated countries of Cyprus, Malta and Turkey align themselves with this statement.

I should like first of all to thank the High Representative, Mr. Wolfgang Petritsch, for his comprehensive and enlightening briefing on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The EU expresses its continued support to the High Representative in his endeavours to ensure the implementation of the Dayton/Paris Accords.

Mr. President, For the first time, more than five years after the Dayton/Paris agreements, Bosnia and Herzegovina has a government without the participation of nationalistic parties. The Union expresses its hope that this government will carry out much needed reforms and work for the benefit of all people of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The new government will have the full support of the EU in fulfilling commitments undertaken in Dayton/Paris, notably as elaborated at the Ministerial Peace Implementation Council on 25 May 2000.

The EU wishes to recall that the citizens and peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina can only move towards Europe in the framework of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In this context the EU condemns recent unilateral moves by the so-called Croat National Congress of Bosnia and Herzegovina to place themselves outside the provisions of the Dayton/Paris accords. The EU calls on the Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina to work within the legal institutions of their country at all levels to promote their interests.

The EU reiterates its support for the decision of the High Representative to remove the member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Ante Jelavic and others from their publicly held offices and their positions within the HDZ following their repeated undermining of the Dayton Peace Agreement. At the same time, the EU welcomes the High Representative's express desire to maintain a dialogue with Bosnian Croats and to encourage their participation in improving economic, social and cultural conditions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The EU underlines the crucial role of neighbouring countries in promoting a stable and multi-ethnic Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The EU notes the recent establishment of a Special Parallel Relationship between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Republika Srpska of Bosnia and Herzegovina and urges the High Representative to monitor any further amendments to it, in order to ensure that it remains consistent with the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Mr. President,

The EU notes with satisfaction the progress which is being made across the region in bringing individuals to account for abuses of power and criminal offences which were committed under the cover of previous undemocratic regimes. The EU welcomes the decision by the former president of the Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mrs. Biljana Plavsic, to voluntarily present herself at the Hague in order to co-operate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The EU calls upon all other persons indicted by the ICTY to surrender themselves to the Tribunal and urges relevant authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as elsewhere to comply with their obligation to fully co-operate with the Tribunal and to arrest all indictees who remain at large.

Mr. President,

The EU wishes to encourage the High Representative to review current international civil implementation structures in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to make proposals as to their streamlining with a view to ensure the most effective co-ordination of all international actors.

Being one of these actors, the EU is determined to sustain its long-term commitment to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Union is the main troop contributor to Bosnia and Herzegovina and remains by far the largest donor of long-term economic assistance. The commitment of the EU is also expressed in the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP), this being the path for Bosnia and Herzegovina's rapprochement with the Union. The EU wishes to stress the urgent need to implement political, economic, democratic, human rights and rule of law reforms as outlined in the EU Road Map in order to allow a move to the next stage of the Stabilisation and Association Process, namely a Feasibility Study.

The EU expresses its support for all efforts aimed at enhanced regional co-operation, in conformity with the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the states in the region. In this context, the EU recalls the role of the Stability Pact and the instruments it has put in place in order to increase cross-border co-operation and achieve regional stability. I thank you, Mr. President