Croat member of Bosnia and Herzegovina's tripartite Presidency Zeljko Komsic talked to German candidate for the role of international community's High Representative in BiH Christian Schmidt and told him that meeting the criteria for the country's EU candidate status should be on the agenda of the Office of the High Representative (OHR).

According to the Presidency member’s cabinet, Komsic also said the successful functioning of the OHR, which oversees the peace implementation in BiH, requires the support of Washington, London and Brussels together.

He stressed that meeting the priorities from the European Commission’s Opinion on Bosnia’s membership application should also be a part of the OHR agenda.

Speaking of changes of the Election Law, the Presidency member said it was entirely acceptable to apply the civic principles from German and Croatian electoral legislation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The other two members, Bosniak Sefik Dzaferovic and Serb Milorad Dodik, previously held talks with the international envoy candidate, presenting the opposing views over the functioning of the OHR.

While Serb Milorad Dodik advocates its shutdown, arguing that the time has come for the elected representatives take over responsibility for the country, Bosniak Sefik Dzaferovic claims the country still needs international involvement.

The OHR was established in 1995 to oversee the civilian part of the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, a treaty which ended the Bosnian 1992-95 war and contains the country’s Constitution. The conditions for its closure were defined by the Peace Implementation Council and this international body will also decide if and when the conditions for the country’s transition from the OHR to European Union presence have been met.

The current High Representative is Austrian diplomat Valentin Inzko.