Bosnia Inches Closer to Forming State Govt

Leaders of the six parties in the ruling coalition at state level in Bosnia have reported progress in talks on establishing a new Council of Ministers - in effect a state government.

Bakir Izetbegovic and Zeljko Komsic, from the [Bosniak] Party of Democratic Action, SDA and the Democratic Front, DF, Dragan Covic from the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, as well as Mladen Bosic, Mladen Ivanic and Krsto Jandric from the [Serbian] Serbian Democratic Party, SDS, the Party of Democratic Progress, PDP, and Peoples' Democratic Movement, NDP, met in Sarajevo on Wedneday.

The six parties have to agree on sharing positions in the Council of Ministers, which is made up of a chairman, nine ministers and nine deputy ministers.

Late on Wednesday, party leaders reported agreements on all but one ministerial and one deputy ministerial position. They will meet again on Sunday.

"I believe that on... Monday we will announce a new Council of Ministers. The job does not end there, because we also have to establish a government for the Federation [entity]," Komsic said after the meeting.

He said a speedy agreement on a new state government was important also because of the expected arrival of Federica Mogherini, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who is due in Sarajevo on Monday.

She is coming to Sarajevo to push Bosnian leaders to adopt a declaration pledging their continued commitment to European integration.

Once the declaration is adopted, it will set in motion the new EU initiative for Bosnia and activate the long-stalled Stabilization and Association Agreement, SAA.

Once the SAA is activated, local leaders are expected to initiate a set of economic and social reforms, which the EU...