Following the news that the CoM has once again failed to appoint a Director of the ITA, High Representative Ashdown and Ambassador Michael Humphreys, Head of the EC Delegation in BiH, said:
“The delay in appointing a Director of the ITA is totally unacceptable. This is an explicit requirement of the European Union’s recently published Feasibility Study and a key test of BiH’s seriousness towards the reform agenda the EU requires. Failure to deal with this – and the many other challenges that the establishment of this key institution will require – would seriously threaten BiH’s progress towards the European Union. The decision has been held hostage to narrow party politics.
We expect the government of this country to back its frequently expressed wish to move towards membership of the European Union with concrete action.
Further delay in the process, which is already behind schedule, would seriously jeopardise the possibility of meeting the conditions set out in the Feasibility Study. This has now gone on long enough. We expect this issue to be resolved, and a Director of the ITA to be appointed by the Council of Ministers by the end of Monday 8 December at the latest.”