Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to support the use of Bonn Powers by the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina in relation to (1) election law, and (2) the Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina; and in any such plans, what consideration they are giving to the risk of denial of rights of representation in the House of Peoples for ethnic minorities in the cantons in that country.

The delicate balance of power sharing in Bosnia and Herzegovina is set out in the Dayton Peace Agreement and other documents. These afford certain protections to the three Constituent Peoples and 'Others'. However, misuse of these mechanisms is preventing functional government and blocking progress. There has been no domestic agreement on electoral and constitutional reform despite US and EU facilitated talks. With this in mind and aware of the need for a functional Federation, the UK strongly supports the High Representative and the use of his executive powers should the situation require it.