EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Friday echoed Western officials' calls to Bosnians to choose reformist forces focused on economic prosperity in general elections he described as "fundamental".
"You have another opportunity tomorrow, please use it and use it for the better," Solana told a press conference, referring to Saturday's general elections in Bosnia.
Solana, speaking after a meeting with members of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, said that he expected that the electorate would opt for those who would be "ready to move the country forward."
He stressed that the moment had come for Bosnia to concentrate "on the future and begin to stop looking back into the past."
According to opinion polls the multi-ethnic Social Democratic Party (SDP) are likely to emerge as a leading force in Bosnian's central parliament and the legislative body of the Muslim-Croat Federation, ending the decade-long supremacy of nationalists.
In Bosnia's third general elections since the 1992-1995 war the voters will elect representatives to the central parliament as well as MPs for the parliamentary bodies of the two entities -- the Muslim-Croat Federation and the Serb-run Republika Srpska (RS). In the RS voters will elect a president.
Solana added that the talks with Bosnian officials also focused on the EU-Balkans summit, due on November 24 in the Croatian capital of Zagreb.
On a tour of the region, which has also included Slovenia and Croatia, Solana arrived in Bosnia on Thursday. He was to leave later Friday for Albania and will also visit Macedonia -- SARAJEVO (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
