Visit of Bosnian Foreign Minister Sven Alkalaj

Under Secretary of State R. Nicholas Burns welcomed Foreign Minister for Bosnia and Herzegovina Sven Alkalaj to the State Department May 4. Under Secretary Burns and Foreign Minister Alkalaj discussed the need for the Bosnian government to resume progress on key reforms, including the need to complete a police reform plan enabling Bosnia to sign an EU Stabilization and Association Agreement this year. They discussed the need for Bosnia and Herzegovina to build upon its recent admission into NATO's Partnership for Peace by implementing defense reforms required for further integration with NATO. Under Secretary Burns urged all political and other key figures in Bosnia and Herzegovina to avoid nationalist rhetoric, and instead work together to modernize the Dayton peace framework to the benefit of all Bosnian citizens. Under Secretary Burns assured Foreign Minister Alkalaj that the United States will continue to work to bring Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic to justice before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. While the country's course is for Bosnians to chart, the United States remains committed to a stable Euro-Atlantic future for Bosnia and Herzegovina.