Military

Bosnia's New High Representative Outlines His Plans

30 January 2006 -- The new international administrator in Bosnia, Christian Schwarz-Schilling, said today he hopes he will not need to impose his wide-ranging powers.

But he said he wants the Bosnian authorities to work more for the country's prosperity.

Schwarz-Schilling replaces the British diplomat Paddy Ashdown on 31 January.

Christian Schwarz-Schilling, a German diplomat, has a one-year mandate as the international community's high representative and the EU special representative in Bosnia, with the possibility of an extension.

Schwarz-Schilling says he will try to achieve several goals in that year. One is to help Bosnia's government complete the country's first step towards EU membership, by signing a Stabilization and Association Agreement with Brussels.

Other goals include helping Bosnia progress towards entering NATO's Partnership for Peace Program, holding transparent parliamentary elections, and capturing wanted Bosnian Serb war crimes suspects.

(dpa)

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