No Changes For Bosnia's High Representative Office

SARAJEVO -- The international body that oversees the peace process in Bosnia said today it will not change the status of the Office of the High Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina, RFE/RL's Balkan Service reports.

Austrian diplomat Valentin Inzko, who currently serves as the high representative, said at the conclusion of a two-day meeting of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) that the issue was not discussed.

"The Peace Implementation Council did not discuss the transformation of the Office of the High Representative (OHR) to an office of an EU special representative. Bosnia-Herzegovina has not fulfilled the conditions for this step. We did talk about the process of constitutional reform. The international community believes that the closure of the OHR is a step towards the final goal -- that of Bosnia's Euro-Atlantic integration," he said.

The PIC is charged with monitoring Bosnia's progress toward membership in the European Union and NATO.