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U.N. mission crucial to Bosnia poll

By Batuk Gathani

Brussels JULY 16. The extension of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Bosnia must have come as a huge relief to many in Europe as a stable Bosnia contributes to the stability of that continent. Seven years after the worst bloodletting in Europe since World War II, Bosnia today is showing "unmistakable signs of sustainable recovery", according to Paddy Ashdown who is the international community's new high representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Lord Ashdown said Bosnia had "a stable currency, almost no inflation and a profitable commercial banking system". It would be unfair if international support was withdrawn simply because "Bosnia had been made a pawn in a diplomatic game." "Bosnia has made high progress in its push towards normal democracy, but much has still to be done. Effective measures, including issuing identity cards have been taken to ensure that Bosnia cannot, under any circumstances, be used as a base for international terrorism. Yet smuggling and people trafficking remain a main problem." Estimates of human trafficking from poorer parts of eastern and southern Europe vary between one and two million every year and according to one estimate, "equal to the entire population of Berlin". At the conference on child trafficking held in Rome last week, a charity organisation said 6,000 children, mainly adolescent girls from eastern and southern Europe, were being sold into the sex trade in western Europe and North America.

The European Union plans to send 500 special police officers to Bosnia next January to boost the existing U.N. peacekeeping mission. Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign and security policy co-ordinator and chief executive, said: "Should a compromise fail, the European Union cannot abandon the Balkans. It constitutes its number one priority." The Bosnian Federation is split along three ethnic communities — Christian Serbs, Catholic Croats and Muslims. Elections are scheduled to take place in October. The presence of an independent security force under the umbrella of the United Nations is crucial to ensure free and fair elections.

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