SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina, May 3 (UPI) -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder praised Bosnia for its post-war reconstruction Tuesday and said he welcomed closer European Union ties with the country.
Schroeder met in Sarajevo with various officials, including Bosnian Prime Minister Adnan Terzic, U.N. High Representative in Bosnia Paddy Ashdown and British Gen. David Leakey, commander of the 7,000-strong EU peacekeeping force.
The chancellor said he favors establishing closer ties between the EU and Sarajevo and said he would seek negotiations with Brussels about a stability pact, Deutsche Welle reported. He also offered German expertise in crafting a new constitution and enacting economic reform.
Meanwhile, German diplomat Werner Wnendt, who is deputy to Ashdown, said Bosnia is making life more difficult than it needs to be.
"The structure in Bosnia and Herzegovina is very complicated and uneconomical because there are far too many ministers," he said.
