Bosnia

Bosnian ethnic leaders made no progress in a second round of talks Oct. 21 on constitutional reforms that are key for the country's closer ties with the European Union, agreeing only to continue negotiations at a lower level. The talks, now involving experts of the three relevant ethnic entities and no top-level international officials or local leaders, are scheduled to resume next week. Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who co-chaired the first two rounds of the negotiations with the US Assistant Secretary of State Jim Steinberg, blamed Bosnian politicians for the lack of progress. "We were telling them, 'accelerate, accelerate,' but they were responding with 'nothing, nothing'," Bildt told a press conference after the meeting. (DPA)