Statement of
The Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina met for its fourth session at the National Museum in Sarajevo on November 1, 1996.
The Presidency continued discussions on the formation of the common institutions, in particular the Council of Ministers. It heard a report from the first meeting of the Working Group on the organisation of the Council of Ministers and gave instructions regarding its further work.
The Presidency noted that the Council of Ministers will be responsible for preparing the decisions of the Presidency in accordance with Article V (3) of the Constitution, for submitting draft laws and other proposals to the Parliamentary Assembly and for executing policies and decisions of the Parliamentary Assembly and the Presidency, in areas referred to in Article III (1), or otherwise decided by the Parliamentary Assembly or the Presidency.
The Presidency will continue discussions on the composition of the Council of Ministers based on the proposals of the Working Group.
The Presidency supports the activities of various associations dealing with issues and problems of displaced persons, refugees and missing persons, and underlines the importance of their efforts towards learning the fate of all persons still missing.
The Presidency sharply condemned all cases of destruction of houses in both the Federation and Republika Srpska, and urged the responsible authorities to take strong measures against any such actions.
The Presidency received a report by the caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jadranko Prlic, in relation to the staffing of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and of the Embassies and Consulates of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will be discussed at the next session.
At its next session, the Presidency shall also discuss preparations for the meetings in Paris and London, as well as for the Summit Meeting of the Central European Initiative in Graz on November 8-9, 1996.
The Presidency was informed about the state of telecommunication links between the common institutions and decided to request the Office of the High Representative to present as soon as possible its proposals for detailed decisions for that purpose.