EU urges Bosnian leaders to end stalemate and form government

The time has come for Bosnian leaders to put aside their differences and agree on the formation of a new government, European Union leaders said Tuesday, dpa reported

"We are deeply concerned about the continued lack of progress in the government formation in Bosnia," EU chief diplomat Catherine Ashton and Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule said in a statement.

Bosnia is comprised of two ethnic administrative units: the Serb Republic and the Croat-Muslim Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Five months after parliamentary elections, Muslim and Croat leaders in the federation remain at odds over forming a government. Serbs in the Serb Republic have already formed theirs.

The country also lacks a central government, hobbling progress on crucial reforms.

"Bosnia and Herzegovina's leadership needs urgently to overcome their differences," Ashton and Fule said, warning that their country "cannot afford to lose more time."

"The political leaders must urgently address EU-related reforms as a matter of priority if the country is to take steps forward on its European integration path," they said.

The United States issued a similar statement last week.

The peace agreement that ended the 1992-95 Bosnian war created a complex political system that requires the consensus of ethnic groups, a condition that has led to all-out political paralysis.