Bosnia parties to form government after 14 months

BOSNIA’S main Muslim, Croat and Serb parties agreed to form a central government yesterday, ending a 14-month political crisis that paralysed the state and blocked further EU integration.

“We have reached an agreement on the composition of the (central) government,” Sulejman Tihic, the leader of the SDA Muslim party, told a press conference.

He added that the political leaders also agreed on two pieces of legislation on holding a census and distribution of state aid, which Brussels insists on if Bosnia is to take further steps to joining the European Union.

Hardline Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik praised the agreement as a victory for “compromise and understanding” after months of squabbling. “After the implementation of the two laws (on the census and state subsidies) and the formation of the government, Bosnia can apply for candidate status for the European Union,” he said.

Since the 1992-95 inter-ethnic war that left almost 100,000 people dead, Bosnia has been divided into the Bosnian Serb-controlled Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation overseen by a weak central government.

The country had been in crisis since elections in October 2010, with the rival Serb, Muslim and Croat leaders unable to form a central government.

The rivalry between the communities also harmed the Balkan country’s aim to join the European Union and NATO.

Meanwhile, A Bosnian court has ordered that a Muslim Bosnian woman extradited from the US on war crimes charges be held for a month.

The court ordered 39-year-old Rasema Handanovic to remain in custody because she is a flight risk and “might hinder the inquiry by influencing witnesses and accomplices.”

Handanovic is accused of killing Bosnian Croat civilians during the 1990s Bosnian War.