Washington and Berlin Initiate Contacts on New Initiative for BiH

The United States and Germany have initiated preliminary talks on a new initiative to resolve key issues, including constitutional changes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the bh. news agency Patria (NAP) has learned from reliable diplomatic sources.

Everything intensified after the recent visit of US President Barack Obama to Brussels, where it was concluded that there is concern and expressed "readiness to help the country move closer to European and Euro-Atlantic structures".

The new international initiative would culminate in the spring of next year, Patria agency has been confirmed from multiple sources. In recent weeks, contacts between Washington and Berlin have intensified, first at the level of influential non-governmental organizations that have good connections with the administrations. These talks, some of which have already taken place in Berlin, aim to program realistic goals and scope of the new international initiative.

So far, BiH officials are not included in the talks, only lower-level administration and former diplomats, who are preparing several scenarios for discussions, and a person who would lead the initiative. As we learn, what is clear is that the new initiative will focus on real reforms concerning functionality, for example, the establishment of a state Ministry of Agriculture, and practical constitutional changes that would enable state bodies to work without constant blockades. Discussions are still underway on whether to include the reform of the Federation of BiH in the package, which some consider a prerequisite for constitutional reforms.

A kind of starting document is, as we were told, the "April package" of constitutional reforms that once failed in the BiH Parliament, but had broad support and was the closest step towards defining a "common vision in BiH".

Washington has interested Germany, whose voice in the European Union is the strongest, to get involved in this initiative, especially if Berlin also takes over the position of EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security, who would likely be the bearer of the new initiative.

Officials directly responsible for BiH in American and European diplomacy have been preparing the ground for a long time with statements calling for a re-examination of the previous approach to BiH, in which Victoria Nuland, US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, was the most precise, having "announced a review of the international approach to BiH" immediately after taking office.