Kallas: Time to end international supervision in Bosnia, but after strengthening local capacities

2025-11-03 13:21:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Kallas: Time to end international supervision in Bosnia, but after strengthening

The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, said in Sarajevo that the time has come for international supervision in Bosnia and Herzegovina to end, but added that this can only happen when the country has the necessary capacities to make decisions on its own.

Kallas is on an official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday, during which she visited the Butmir camp near Sarajevo, where members of the EU Peacekeeping Mission, EUFOR, are stationed.

EUFOR also has a mandate to use force if "the secure and stable environment is seriously threatened" or "existing security structures are at risk of collapse."

Kallas said that recent events in the People's Assembly of Republika Srpska present a new opportunity to calm political tensions.

" Free and fair elections can restore trust in local authorities. The citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina deserve a chance for stability and a chance to breathe freely ," Kallas said.

The Assembly of Republika Srpska adopted on October 18 the Law on the Repeal of Laws that the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina had declared invalid.

These are the Law on Real Estate Used for the Functioning of Public Power, the Law on Non-Implementation of Decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Election Law of Republika Srpska, the Law on Prohibition of the Activities of Extra-Constitutional Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Law on Supplementing the Criminal Code of Republika Srpska, and the Law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Republika Srpska.

Kallas said the European Union responded to threats to the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina in March by strengthening European troops in the country.

She also referred to the extension of EUFOR's mandate on October 31, which the UN Security Council voted for.

"The world has recognized that they make Bosnia and Herzegovina safe, and that the EU has done everything from Dayton until today to make Bosnia and Herzegovina safe," she added.

Kallas also spoke about the Reform Program that the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina has approved and that should provide this country with over one billion euros from the EU Growth Plan.

Bosnia and Herzegovina was the only one in the region that delayed the adoption of this document by almost two years, and due to this delay, the estimated amount of one billion euros was reduced by 108.5 million./ REL