Ashdown legacy in Bosnia and Herzegovina

11.12.03am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 31st Jan 2006

As Paddy Ashdown steps down as UN High Representative to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Liberal Democrat European justice spokeswoman and member of the European Parliament delegation to the Western Balkans Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP said:

"Under the excellent stewardship of Lord Ashdown, Bosnia and Herzegovina has made great progress in becoming a fully functioning independent state. The prospect of EU membership, a chimera for many years, is now a distinct possibility and a further incentive for reform."

This week will see the start of talks between the EU and Bosnia and Herzegovina on concluding a "Stabilisation and Association Agreement" (SAA) which will strengthen ties between the two. Sarah Ludford added:

"The real challenge for Lord Ashdown's successor Christian Schwarz-Schilling is to ensure the capture and trial of Bosnian Serb war criminals Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. While it is encouraging that Lord Ashdown believes that they will soon be brought to justice, the Bosnian authorities must comply fully with the International Criminal Tribunal if they want to make real progress towards EU membership."