Bosnia approves new government, ends deadlock

Bosnia's parliament approved a new central government on Friday, ending 16 months of deadlock between Serb, Croat and Muslim leaders that left the economy floundering and stalled reforms needed to revive Bosnia's bid to join the European Union.
The country of 3.8 million had been effectively paralysed since an inconclusive parliamentary election in October 2010 until rival political parties agreed in late December on the makeup and agenda of a new cabinet.
Bosnia was split into two autonomous regions - the Muslim-Croat Federation and the Serb Republic - at the end of the 1992-95 war, since when a weak central government has tried to reconcile the opposed demands of two entities held together in an unwieldy, highly decentralised union.
The Serb Republic is fiercely protective of its autonomy, while Bosnia's Muslims want a more unified state with greater power and funding for the central government. "The formation of the government is a positive step but it is not enough," said Srecko Latal, an analyst with the Brussels-based International Crisis Group think tank. "This government will have a difficult task to deal with a long list of obligations that have been long delayed."
The government was voted in by 26 votes to 7 in the 42-seat parliament. The new prime minister, Bosnian Croat economist Vjekoslav Bevanda, said the government's priorities would be adopting a state budget for 2012 and general fiscal framework for 2012-14. Both are conditions for Bosnia to gain access to much-needed funds from the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission, frozen until now because of the political impasse.
Languishing behind its west Balkan neighbours in the queue for EU membership, Bosnia has struggled to attract foreign investors or tackle an official unemployment rate of 43 percent. The office of Bosnia's international peace overseer, Valentin Inzko, said the new government needed to take urgent measures to promote economic growth and stimulate employment.
Bevanda, seen as a moderate, said he hoped Bosnia would make more progress towards EU accession. "We are one step away from applying for EU membership," he told a news conference. "This will be the year of the European Union in Bosnia." But some analysts predicted more politicking and obstruction by ethnically divided parties.