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Major Powers: Elections Must Stay on Schedule
‘We are not even half-way there.
BERLIN, June 4 (Reuters) - The United States, Russia and major European powers said on Tuesday the first post-war elections in Bosnia must go ahead on schedule in September, despite widespread concern about how fair they will be. "This timetable must be adhered to," German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel said in a statement after chairing a meeting of foreign ministers from the five-nation "contact group" which coordinates policy on Bosnia. They stressed that Bosnian Serb leaders indicted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague must be removed from power and sent for trial, as provided for in the Dayton peace agreement which ended more than three years of war.
The United States, Russia, France, Germany and Britain want elections to go ahead despite problems with freedom of movement, media restrictions, the return of refugees and the continued presence of hardline Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. "The contact group agreed that everything should be done to create the conditions for elections," Kinkels statement said.
Balkan leaders agreed at a meeting in Geneva on Sunday to press on with the elections, which the major powers believe are crucial to establishing a normal civic society even if conditions are not perfect. Any delay could also mean that the NATO-led peace force in Bosnia would have to stay longer, something the United States and its allies want to avoid if they can.
NATO foreign ministers agreed in Berlin on Monday that the 60,000-strong Bosnia force would not start pulling out until after the elections in September, leaving the door open for troops to remain well into next year if needed. Kinkel said the contact group was "determined to bring the implementation of the Dayton process to a successfu conclusion."
International peace coordinator Carl Bildt said billions of dollars pledged by outside powers to help rebuild Bosnia needed to start flowing more quickly. He said he remained confident that Karadzic, seen by Bosnias Muslim-led government and the West as a major obstacle to the elections, would be removed from power and sent for trial at th U.N. war crimes tribunal. "All roads lead to The Hague," he told reporters.
Despite intense pressure from the United States and others, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic has so far failed to keep his promise to oust Karadzic, his former protege.
While Bildt said he also thought elections would go ahead, there are serious questions about whether they can be free and fair in the current atmosphere. Later this month, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will give its verdict on whether the conditions exist, since it is overseeing the elections.
The top OSCE representative in Bosnia, U.S. Ambassador Robert Frowick, said on Monday the country was far from ready
but that the international community was making headway. "We are not even half-way there," Frowick told a news
conference in Sarajevo. "The cup is not even half full, but undeniably there has been some progress." |
Berserkistan, June 3 · Voter Registration Begins in Bosnia
Berserkistan, June 2 · Bosnia’s Elections Remain on Track Despite Karadzic
Berserkistan, June 2 · Bosnia: Fair Elections, but Not At Any Price
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