Dodik doubts U.S. talks will boost reforms

Dodik doubts U.S. talks will boost reforms

The EU wants Bosnia to reform its constitution, carved in the Dayton peace agreement that ended the 1992-95 war, and unify its ethnically separate police forces, before signing an association agreement, the first step to membership.

"The meeting is unnecessary because it will only confirm our differences and not bring us closer," Dodik, prime minister of the Serb-dominated half of Bosnia, the Serb Republic, told a news conference.

Dodik and Silajdžić, the Muslim member of the tripartite presidency, met twice at the weekend in Sarajevo to discuss the reforms at the invitation of U.S. Ambassador Douglas McElhaney.

The Sarajevo-based Dnevni Avaz daily said on Monday that no progress was achieved during those talks, which were meant to become a platform for the Washington meeting.

A U.S.-brokered constitutional reform package failed last year to win the parliament's approval mainly because Silajdžić's party refused to support it. The Serbs were mostly in favor, but refused to unify their regional police with that of the Muslim-Croat federation.

Dodik acknowledged he and Silajdžić did not agree on any of the key issues.

"I don't expect a relaxed time in the United States, I expect strong pressure," he said.

There has been no progress in the reforms since talks deadlocked last year. Muslim, Serb and Croat leaders have mostly stuck to their guns since.

Dodik repeated his party's proposal that Bosnia should consist of three federal, ethically-based units: Republika Srpska (the Serb Republic), Bosna (comprising majority Muslim areas) and Herceg-Bosna (comprising Croat-dominated areas).

The proposal has been dismissed by Muslim politicians as the final division of the country along ethnic lines. The Croat leaders, who generally support the concept of having more federal units, are being cautious and refuse to comment.