Bosnia-Herzegovina's major political parties have agreed to constitutional changes that guarantee equal rights to all citizens as they seek to ease divisions in the country. The agreement signed early Wednesday in Sarajevo after marathon talks gives ethnic Serbs, Croats, and Muslims equal opportunities to hold elective office in areas of the country where their ethnic groups are in the minority. 

Nationalist Muslim and Croat parties refused to sign the deal, while the ethnic Serb groups accepted it only with reservations. But international mediators, who helped negotiate the accord, are expressing optimism that lawmakers in both Bosnia's Serb Republic and its Muslim-Croat Federation will approve the measure. 

Under the present constitution, it is nearly impossible for Muslims and Croats to win public office in Bosnia's Serb areas or for ethnic Serbs to gain election in Croat and Muslim areas. The top international mediator in Bosnia, Wolfing Petritsch, welcomed the accord expressing hope it will help ease ethnic divisions in the Balkan country. 

Some information for this report provided by Reuters and AFP. 

Email this article to a friend.
Printer Friendly Version