Spiric confident BiH upper house will pass police reform bills

15/04/2008

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) -- Prime Minister Nikola Spiric said on Monday (April 14th) he is confident that the upper house will approve key police reform bills, clearing the way for the signing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU. Spiric reiterated he does not expect the measures to face any hurdles during Wednesday's vote in the 15-member House of Peoples and said he is certain that, once BiH signs the SAA, it can implement speedily other EU-related reforms. The SAA should have an immediate effect on the economy, as financing made available via EU pre-accession funds should spur investment and job creation.

The lower house narrowly approved the draft laws to create new state-level supervisory panels for the police last week after four years of negotiation and delays. If approved by the upper house, the SAA likely would be signed on April 28th. (Dnevni Avaz - 15/04/08; RTRS, NTV Hayat, Fena - 14/04/08)