05/10/2001 OHR/PIC SB

High Representative and PIC Steering Board urge Council of Ministers to take the lead on BiH’s integration with Europe

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The High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, and the Political Directors of the Peace Implementation Council’s Steering Board yesterday held a constructive meeting with the Council of Ministers in Sarajevo. During their fruitful discussions, the Council of Ministers, headed by Prime Minister Bozidar Matic, presented its Government Program to the PIC Steering Board, focusing on economic reform.

The Council of Ministers was praised for its overall performance under difficult conditions in its first months of government. In particular, it supported the concept that the Council of Ministers to foster foreign direct investment and job creation.

The Steering Board urged the Council of Ministers as the Government of BiH to speak with one voice and to strengthen Bosnia and Herzegovina’s visibility and credibility on the international scene, in particular, in the drive for integration with Europe.

The Steering Board emphasized the vital role of the Council of Ministers in consulting with the Parliamentary Assembly on urgent legislative issues like the Election Law, the Civil Service Law and the five lal Service Law and the five laws on the BiH Citizen Identification Protection System (CIPS). The Council of Ministers pledged to use its influence to see these laws through to their final adoption by both houses of parliament. The Steering Board and the High Representative urged the Council of Ministers to improve coordination with both entities in order to advance economic reform and the return of refugees and displaced peoples to their homes.