Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06SARAJEVO1499
2006-07-05 13:09:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Sarajevo
Cable title:  

BOSNIA: BRCKO WORKING GROUP AGREES ON WAY FORWARD

Tags:  PGOV PREL BK 
pdf how-to read a cable
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ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 051309Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3887
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JCS WASHDC PRIORITY
RUFOAOA/USNIC SARAJEVO PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DOJ WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SARAJEVO 001499 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR (FRIED, DICARLO),D (SMITH),P (BAME),EUR/SCE
(ENGLISH, SAINZ, FOOKS, COLLINS),L (DOROSIN, MANSFIELD),
NSC FOR BRAUN, USNIC FOR WEBER, GREGORIAN, OSD FOR FLORY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/24/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA: BRCKO WORKING GROUP AGREES ON WAY FORWARD

REF: SARAJEVO 01197

Classified By: AMBASSADOR DOUGLAS MCELHANEY FOR REASONS 1.4 (B),(D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SARAJEVO 001499

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR (FRIED, DICARLO),D (SMITH),P (BAME),EUR/SCE
(ENGLISH, SAINZ, FOOKS, COLLINS),L (DOROSIN, MANSFIELD),
NSC FOR BRAUN, USNIC FOR WEBER, GREGORIAN, OSD FOR FLORY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/24/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA: BRCKO WORKING GROUP AGREES ON WAY FORWARD

REF: SARAJEVO 01197

Classified By: AMBASSADOR DOUGLAS MCELHANEY FOR REASONS 1.4 (B),(D)


1. (U) SUMMARY. On June 20-21 the Ambassador convened the
second meeting of the Brcko District Working Group, aimed at
establishing political and legal mechanisms to regularize
Brcko's status in relation to the state institutions of
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Representatives came from the
Council of Ministers, the Brcko District Office in Sarajevo,
the Brcko Final Award Office and the Office of the High
Representative. Although the Council of Ministers sent a
representative who could not negotiate directly on the Prime
Minister's behalf, the Working Group agreed on a way forward
in the near term. The group focused on a set of mechanisms
that would be achievable before the October elections, rather
than on constitutional amendments that are politically
unrealistic at this time. They agreed that an action plan
was needed and committed to drafting a new national law
addressing Brcko's legal relationship with state
institutions. PM Terzic, in a separate meeting with the
Ambassador, pledged his full support to the process. END
SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) The Brcko District Working Group, with
representatives from the Council of Ministers (COM),the
Brcko District Office (BDO) in Sarajevo, the Brcko District
Final Award Office (BFAO),the Office of the High
Representative (OHR) and the Embassy convened June 20-21.
Assistant Legal Adviser Josh Dorosin facilitated the talks.
The Working Group, established when Brcko Mayor Djapo and
Prime Minister Terzic signed a pledge to the Secretary during
Dayton Anniversary events in Washington, is a U.S. led
process to assist in clarifying the relationship between the
Brcko District and BiH institutions in a manner that will
ensure appropriate representation for the Brcko District in
state-level institutions, and that will allow the terms of
the Final Award to be met so that the international
supervisory regime may be ended. As in the first round in

February, the Working Group sought to identify political and
legal mechanisms which would ensure appropriate
representation for the Brcko District in state level decision
making bodies.

SLOW PROGRESS SINCE LAST WORKING GROUP


3. (SBU) Brcko District officials reported that, as per
agreement in February, the Brcko District Office in Sarajevo
had been established to increase cooperation between the
state and Brcko District and that some progress was being
made in addressing issues of interest to Brcko. However, the
BDO reported it has little support from the COM. The BDO has
proposed draft statutory language to legally enshrine the BDO
in the COM by amending the Law on the Council of Ministers.
To date it has received no response from the COM. Parties
also reported little progress since the May 25 meeting with
the Ambassador toward naming liaisons between Parliament and
the Brcko District Office, or improving Brcko's relationship
with Parliament's Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee
and the Finance Committee (reftel).

WHAT BRCKO WANTS


4. (SBU) Brcko District officials offered concrete examples
of their lack of participation and authority in current state
structures. Brcko District wants voting rights in all state
level bodies, and most crucially, in fiscal, financial and
property decision making structures. For example, Brcko has
been granted observer status in the Indirect Taxation
Authority and the National Fiscal Council's Governing Board,
but has no control over the decision-making processes of
either body. (NOTE: A more detailed report on problems within
the ITA and NFC will follow septel.) Brcko is not mentioned
in the BiH Constitution, and therefore cannot access the
Constitutional Court or other legal remedies. Brcko District
also seeks representation in Parliament, including
participation in the Constitutional and Legal Affairs
Committee and the Finance Committee, as well as parliamentary
voting rights.

CONSENSUS ON A WAY FORWARD


5. (SBU) The parties agreed that constitutional amendments

SARAJEVO 00001499 002 OF 002


would be the ideal legal remedy to address these issues.
However, they also recognized that this is likely
unachievable in advance of upcoming national elections in
October. Drafting a national law to address Brcko's
immediate concerns, with the intent of lobbying for
constitutional changes post-election, is the politically
realistic way to proceed, all agreed. At Dorosin's
suggestion, the group agreed to elements of a draft action
plan. The action plan (drafted by Dorosin and currently in
circulation among the Working Group) summarizes the
mechanisms the group agreed upon to further integrate Brcko
District into key BiH executive and parliamentary structures.
The action plan also lays out a way forward for establishing
a new law on the status of Brcko District, which the Working
Group aims to draft by the end of August.


6. (C) COMMENT. Overall, the meeting was constructive and
pragmatic. OHR played a useful role and has pledged support
and leadership on the more technical aspects of drafting a
national law. However, it is clear that there are still
critical points of contention between the Brcko Final Award
Office and OHR Headquarters. The BFAO continues to assert
that the Final Award will be violated if Brcko District is
not given the right to consent to future and past transfers
of competencies. BFAO also maintains that Brcko should carry
veto rights in state-level structures where voting members,
acting on behalf of the entities, could together pass
measures that would go against Brcko's interests. OHR
Headquarters still asserts that this interpretation of the
right to consent makes Brcko a de facto third entity, and is
therefore unacceptable. While these divergent views may not
prevent drafting of the national law from going forward, they
likely will need to be resolved before parties can agree on
constitutional language.


7. (C) COMMENT, CONT. Hands-on USG involvement will remain
key in driving this process forward. The upcoming electoral
season promises to be mean and divisive, and a national law
on Brcko District could become a political football. The law
is a modest goal, but the USG and others will have to lobby
hard to push it through in advance of the October elections.
High level support from the Council of Ministers will also be
essential. Prime Minister Terzic subsequently told the
Ambassador and visiting SCE Director English that he would
fully support the Action Plan, and expressed his belief that
a national law was key to resolving many of the issues
between Brcko and the state. Ambassador and English
pointedly noted that failing to send an appropriately
empowered representative to the Working Group meeting had
sent a poor signal of the PM's commitment. We will need to
maintain pressure for high-level public support from the
Prime Minister, as well as increased COM engagement on the
working level to move this process forward. END COMMENT.


8. (U) This cable has been cleared by Josh Dorosin.
MCELHANEY