US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton used her whistlestop tour of the Balkans to urge Bosnia and Serbia to push ahead with reforms and resolve the issues that still divide the multiethnic region.
Clinton started her two-day tour of the Balkans in Bosnia-Herzegovina where she urged politicians to work toward a more united state, a week after elections that failed to heal the country’s ethnic tensions.
In the capital, Sarajevo, she warned that Bosnia risks having its hopes of joining the EU and NATO dashed unless it starts bridging its internal political and ethnic divide.
ACCOUNTABILITY
She called on Bosnian leaders to move ahead with reforms to “make the government more functional and accountable.”
“Your neighbors have taken strides in that direction ... Bosnia and Herzegovina must join them or risk being left behind,” she said.
Almost 15 years ago, the US-brokered Dayton peace accords ended the bloody 1992-1995 interethnic war in Bosnia, which left 100,000 people dead.
“The killing has stopped here but the cooperation has not taken root,” Clinton said in a speech to students.
Incumbent Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa on Sunday claimed a runaway victory in the nation’s presidential election, after voters endorsed the young leader’s “iron fist” approach to rampant cartel violence. With more than 90 percent of the votes counted, the National Election Council said Noboa had an unassailable 12-point lead over his leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez. Official results showed Noboa with 56 percent of the vote, against Gonzalez’s 44 percent — a far bigger winning margin than expected after a virtual tie in the first round. Speaking to jubilant supporters in his hometown of Olon, the 37-year-old president claimed a “historic victory.” “A huge hug
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