(SARAJEVO) - International officials on Friday hailed Bosnia's adoption of long-disputed police reforms, saying it moved the country closer to joining the European Union.

"I would like to congratulate all those who have worked hard to reach a compromise for the sake of a better future for Bosnia-Hercegovina and all its citizens," the international envoy to Bosnia, Miroslav Lajcak, said in a statement.

The reforms adopted by Bosnia's lower house on Thursday were the last hurdle set by the EU for the country to sign a pact on closer ties.

"Better days are ahead of us and also a lot of work related to signing of the SAA," Prime Minister Nikola Spiric said in a reference to the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU.

"We have to work more to make the country ready for foreign investments, EU pre-accession funds and visa liberalisation ... but we will start to experience how it feels to be a part of a united Europe," Spiric told AFP.

"The EU presidency is looking forward to the signing of the SAA with Bosnia as soon as possible," the EU's Slovenian presidency said in a statement.

The EU encouraged all political forces in Bosnia "to make use of the current momentum and to continue vigorously with the implementation of other outstanding key priorities on the reform agenda."

Two police reform bills which passed by 22 votes to 19 still need confirmation by the Upper House, which is expected on Monday.

Since the 1992-1995 war Bosnia has consisted of two autonomous entities -- the Serb Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation. Both have their own parliament, government and police and are linked by weak central institutions.

Brussels had demanded unification of the separate police forces. However Bosnian Serbs insisted on retaining control of police in Republika Srpska while Croats and Muslims wanted the forces to be unified and put under central authority.

Eventually the EU and the parliament accepted reforms which envisage setting up seven new state-level police coordination bodies, without immediately affecting the autonomy of the two forces.

The bills passed Thursday stipulate that the new bodies will assume authority over the separate police forces after a year as part of constitutional reforms. No date was set for the start of the constitutional reform process.

Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Milorad Dodik stressed that the vote meant "Republika Srpska police will continue to work without being jeopardized."

Bosnia initialled the SAA, essentially a trade and aid pact, seen as the first step towards joining the European club, in December.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said last month that Brussels expected to fully sign the deal with Sarajevo in April, pending the implementation of the police reforms.

In Brussels EU spokeswoman Krisztina Nagy said the adoption of the police reform laws "represents a major step forward towards the signature of the SAA with the EU."

The European Commission "is pleased that the elected representatives (of Bosnia-Hercegovina) have listened to the voices of their citizens in favour of European integration, prosperity and progress."

But Nagy warned that European experts would examine whether the police reform proposals had been too watered down to fulfil the criteria set by Brussels.

Apart from the police measures, other outstanding conditions for signing an SAA included full cooperation with the UN war crimes court in The Hague and public broadcasting and public administrative reform.

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