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OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHVJ #2160/01 2581507
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O 151507Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4405
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEKJCS/JCS WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SARAJEVO 002160 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR DICARLO, EUR/SCE; NSC FOR BRAUN; OSD FOR 
FLORY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR BK EU
SUBJECT: BOSNIA: POLITICIANS PLEDGE TO RESTRUCTURE THE 
STATE 
 
REF: SARAJEVO 2140 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Douglas L. McElhaney, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
. 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY:  As the election campaign reached the halfway 
mark this week, comments on constitutional reform by Bosnian 
politicians are featuring prominently in the press. 
Representatives of the Patriotic Block coalition, who helped 
defeat the April constitutional reform package met with 
HighRep Schwarz-Schilling on September 13.  In public 
comments following the meeting, the party representatives 
claimed the HighRep promised that OHR would play the key role 
in revisiting the constitutional reform package.  Meanwhile, 
Party of BiH (SBiH) President Haris Silajdzic visited Banja 
Luka and told a press conference he was justified in his call 
for the abolition of the Republika Srpska (RS).  Silajdzic 
said his vision for the future of Bosnia is a country 
organized into to economic zones with a new constitution 
created through "open, democratic debate."  Separately, the 
RS announced plans to sign an agreement with Serbia on 
"special ties" on September 26.  Although the agreement is 
based on one signed in 2001 with Serbia and Montenegro, the 
timing is provocative and has contributed to popular 
speculation that the agreement is another sign of RS 
secession plans.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Patriotic Block Leaders Meet HighRep, Discuss Constitution 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Social Democratic Union (SDU) President Sejfudin 
Tokic and Bosnian Party (BOSS) President (and Patriotic Block 
presidential candidate) Mirnes Ajanovic met September 13 with 
High Representative Christian Schwarz-Schilling in Sarajevo. 
Following the meeting, Tokic and Ajanovic gave a lengthy 
interview to Dnevni Avaz newspaper during which Tokic claimed 
Schwarz-Schilling promised that OHR would play a key role in 
coordinating the preparations for the passage of a new 
constitution.  According to Tokic, Schwarz-Schilling also 
said that all the principles of the European Charter for 
Human Rights would be enshrined in a new constitution, that 
negotiations should be completed in 2007, and should address 
"government structures at all levels." 
 
Silajdzic's Vision for Future of BiH 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) Party for BiH (SBiH) President and Bosniak 
Tri-Presidency Candidate Haris Silajdzic visited Banja Luka 
September 13 for meetings with local members of his party. 
During a press conference after the meetings, Silajdzic, who 
rarely visits the Republika Srpska (RS), cited the "ethnic 
purity" of the RS as the justification for his repeated calls 
to abolish the entity.   Silajdzic claimed his position does 
not contravene Dayton because the RS has failed to live up to 
its obligations under the Accord to allow the returns of 
displaced persons.  Silajdzic said that his party,s goal is 
a Bosnia organized into economic regions, though he provided 
no details on their nature or composition.  He also called 
for a new constitution created through open and democratic 
debate among Bosnians citizens and constitutional experts, 
rather than "a closed circle of non-experts." 
 
RS and Serbia to Sign Agreement on "Special Ties" 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶4. (SBU) During a September 13 visit to Belgrade, RS 
President Dragan Cavic, in a joint statement with Serbian 
President Boris Tadic, announced the finalization of a draft 
bilateral agreement establishing "special ties" between the 
RS and Serbia.  The agreement will be formally signed during 
a September 26 ceremony in Banja Luka.  The leaders noted 
that the draft will update an existing agreement, signed in 
2001, to reflect the fact that Serbia is now an independent 
state following the secession referendum in Montenegro in 
May.  Such agreements are permitted under Dayton, but the 
timing of the announcement, two weeks before Bosnian national 
elections and amid ongoing calls for an independence 
referendum in the RS, has contributed to speculation that 
this may be another step in the RS distancing itself from 
Sarajevo and state institutions. 
 
Comment 
 
SARAJEVO 00002160  002 OF 002 
 
 
------- 
 
¶5. (C) The three episodes illustrate how the structure of the 
Bosnian state is dominating election-related discourse.  They 
also underscore how parties are trying to exploit nationalist 
sentiment as a means of winning votes.  The Patriotic Block 
interview and Silajdzic press conference also suggest that 
Schwarz-Schilling simply refuses to heed warnings from 
Washington and the Embassy about the dangers associated with 
engaging Bosnian politicians now about phase II of 
constitutional reform.  From their comments to Dnevni Avaz, 
it is clear that he briefed Patriotic Block leaders on his 
plans for constitutional reform earlier on the same day he 
pledged to the Ambassador that he would discuss this issue 
only outside Bosnia and among his informal advisory group 
(reftel).  Silajdzic,s comments about the process for 
negotiating a new constitutional arrangement also bear an 
eerie resemblance to the plans Schwaz-Schilling outlined to 
the Ambassador.  End Comment. 
MCELHANEY