EU foreign ministers call on Bosnia to form new government

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Heads of EU diplomacy called on Bosnia’s political leaders to "take the initiative and to establish power at all levels of government" and to promote reforms that will lead Bosnia and Herzegovina to the EU.

In conclusion of the Luxembourg session, the EU’s foreign ministers “reiterated their irrevocable commitment to Bosnia’s EU perspective as a unified, united and sovereign country.”

Bosnia and Herzegovina held a general election recently at which the voters had the chance to vote for the state presidency, entity and state parliaments as well as cantonal assemblies in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) entity.

The ministers confirmed that the EU’s military mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, EUFOR Althea, will remain in Bosnia, “bearing in mind the need to support Bosnia’s progress in its EU accession process, taking into account the security conditions on the ground.”

Operation Althea, formally the European Union Force (EUFOR) is a military deployment in Bosnia to oversee the military implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement which ended the war in Bosnia (1992-1995). It is the successor to NATO's SFOR and IFOR.

Once again, they asked Bosnian authorities to increase their efforts in resolving the issue of surplus arms and ammunition as well as to speed up the mine-clearance process.