Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1999

Allow me at the

outset to congratulate His Excellency Mr. Theo-Ben

Gurirab, Foreign Minister of Namibia, on his election as

President of the fifty-fourth session of the General

Assembly. His talent, skills and experience in international

affairs guarantee the wise conduct and direction of this

session.

Our gratitude goes to the outgoing President, His

Excellency Mr. Didier Opertti.

Since the beginning of the fifty-third session of the

General Assembly, my country, Bosnia and Herzegovina,

has achieved remarkable progress in implementation of

the Dayton/Paris Peace Accords — progress, I might even

dare to say, that is encouraging. The progress is visible in

the further strengthening of peace, improvements in

efficiency and the stabilization not only of common

institutions but also of the institutions of both Entities as

well as of local government bodies. This progress is also

evident in the further promotion and affirmation of

democratic values, human rights and freedoms and even

in the return of displaced persons and refugees.

This progress has also been noted in numerous

reports by authoritative international representatives and

institutions from the Council of Europe, the European

Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in

Europe (OSCE), the High Representative and participants

in the Stability Pact Summit. All of them confirmed that

we have been moving in the right direction.

I do not want to suggest that the progress that has

been made is spectacular and that we in Bosnia and

Herzegovina, or the international players involved in my

country, are filled with great joy. Nonetheless, despite all

the criticism and all of the shortcomings, progress is

obvious, and that is a fact worthy of our attention, if for

no other reason than that it is proof that Bosnia and

Herzegovina is starting slowly and surely to move away

from political, humanitarian, economic and almost every

other form of stagnation. It is also proof that Bosnia and

Herzegovina is moving away from the state of deep

internal mistrust, doubt and reservation which has for a

long time existed between the two Entities and different

constitutive people, and between their political leaders and

representatives in common institutions. It is also a

reflection of the state of mind and general mood among

the citizens. I believe that it would not be too optimistic

to claim that those positive results and developments are

evidence of a higher potential and the growing will to

find a way out of the difficult and depressing state in

which Bosnia and Herzegovina was a prisoner for almost

a whole decade.

Of course, there are still many issues which we need

to work on regarding the Peace Agreement

implementation and the implementation of the conclusions

of the Peace Implementation Council contained in the

Bonn and Madrid documents, although it also cannot be

disputed that, unfortunately, we have reached unbalanced

results in the two Entities.

36

However, this year the common institutions of Bosnia

and Herzegovina have been working with greater

effectiveness, intensity and coordination. Furthermore,

272,000 displaced persons and 343,000 refugees have

returned to both Entities. However, the return remains one

of the most difficult and painful humanitarian, economic

and political issues, especially the so-called minority return.

On different levels, the minority return is still being slowed

down, manipulated, blocked and politically exploited.

However, we are not accepting the situation. Minority

return is not coming off our agenda; rather, it is

increasingly becoming an indicator of success,

demonstrating the capabilities and responsibilities of many

political leaders from the local to the State level. The public

at large — the voters — are monitoring and assessing this

process daily. The return of refugees under conditions set

by us is the barometer of reconciliation, respect for human

rights and stability in general.

Reform of the judicial system has also been initiated,

and it is aimed at the complete professionalization,

modernization and independence of judges and prosecutors,

in accordance with the norms and standards of the

democratic societies of contemporary Europe and the world.

The reconstruction of the Ministry of the Interior is also

under way, as well as the modernization, professional

training and education of local police. The recruitment of

policemen and policewomen reflects the demographic

picture of the population. Finally, there has also been

progress in cooperation with the International Criminal

Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, although such

cooperation is still not complete in the region as a whole.

Starting with the current school year, children in the

schools of Bosnia and Herzegovina are attending classes in

accordance with new programmes which reflect the present

time and look to our common future. The school

programmes exclude contents which, according to the

common multinational commissions and international

representatives, could represent a threat and a danger to the

fragile confidence and understanding of the young

generations.

Significant results have been achieved through a

programme of economic and infrastructural reconstruction.

But the restoration of industrial capacity has brought it up

to only one third of its pre-war level. We still have a high

number of unemployed and socially dependent categories.

That is why Bosnia and Herzegovina will need international

assistance for a longer period of time. However, that would

be an investment not only in our future but in the future of

everyone.

Activities are under way in regulating the sensitive

but vital field of public information in both Entities. A set

of regulations on the organization and functioning of

broadcasting is in the process of being drawn up.

Significant measures have been undertaken in the sphere

of economic reform. In addition, the customs law has

entered into force, the reform of the banking system and

financial transactions has been launched and the first

results have been achieved in the privatization of small

enterprises. Preparations for the privatization of larger

public enterprises and industrial conglomerates, which

were an inheritance from the socialist period, are under

way.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is speeding up its activities

in these and many other areas as a reflection of its strong

orientation towards the building of democracy and civil

society, an open market economy and the enlargement of

human rights and, by doing so, it is meeting the

conditions for admission to the Council of Europe and

getting closer to the European Union and trans-Atlantic

institutions. Bosnia and Herzegovina has increased its

cooperation with the European Union and North Atlantic

groupings, at the same time benefiting from the various

forms of support and assistance that those institutions

have provided to us. In that regard, Bosnia and

Herzegovina was particularly encouraged by the adoption

last year of the European Union Declaration on special

relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Consultative

Task Force established pursuant to that document has

intensified its work in assisting us to overcome a number

of technical, legal and organizational problems in the

relationship between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the

European Union. This has strengthened the functioning of

State and Entity institutions and is enabling us to

cooperate more successfully with the European Union.

For these and many other results which cannot be

mentioned because of the time limitations, we have to

thank the international community, which gave direct and

indirect assistance, and we are especially grateful to the

High Representative, who used his right to impose

solutions when we in Bosnia and Herzegovina were

unable to reach agreement through the normal democratic

process. All of those efforts should warn us that the

presence of the international community and its role in

Bosnia and Herzegovina is still indispensable; it remains

a guarantor that life in Bosnia and Herzegovina will move

towards normalization. I believe that one of the most

convincing pieces of evidence of the progress which we

are witnessing in Bosnia and Herzegovina was its

organization and hosting of the Summit of the Stability

37

Pact for South-Eastern Europe, which took place on 29 and

30 July this year in Sarajevo. As the Assembly may recall,

Sarajevo has hosted leaders of the States members of

European Union, the Russian Federation, Canada, the

United States of America, Japan, the Central and Eastern

European countries, the most important multilateral

institutions, such as this one, and, of course, the countries

of South-Eastern Europe — the very members of the

Stability Pact.

At that historic event, the common institutions of

Bosnia and Herzegovina, the bodies and organizations from

both Entities and many individual actors of all nationalities,

confirmed not only their abilities and their capabilities, but

also their belief in and readiness to make joint endeavours

in their respective and common interests. I am deeply

convinced that the numerous offers of congratulations and

recognition which were forwarded to us on that occasion

from the many prominent European and world heads of

State gathered in Sarajevo were more than a simple

expression of diplomatic courtesy.

As a unique contribution to the objectives of the

Stability Pact, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia have

signed the border agreement, thereby removing this

sensitive issue from our respective agendas. We are

convinced that the Stability Pact and the declaration

adopted in Sarajevo have opened new perspectives to

Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as to all the other

countries in the region. This has given birth to a stable and

definite solution to a series of catastrophic events of

Biblical proportions and the fast recovery of peoples and

countries that have paid an extremely high price for

ignorance, for political and military adventurism and for

flagrant violations of the norms of international relations

and international humanitarian law.

The guarantees of the success of the goals of the

Stability Pact — peace, prosperity and security for our part

of the world — indeed depend upon the determination and

preparedness of the European Union, the OSCE, the

Council of Europe, the United Nations and the North

Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as well as other

international organizations, institutions and regional

initiatives. The guarantee of their accomplishment also

depends upon the fact that the European Union and the

United States of America have made the Stability Pact a

priority in their new trans-Atlantic programme, and the

European Union and the Russian Federation have made the

Pact the priority in their political dialogue.

Bearing all of this in mind, we in Bosnia and

Herzegovina are determined to embrace the Stability Pact

in its entirety, to build on it and to accomplish our

objectives through concrete contributions to its success,

through our own initiatives and creative activities and

through the development of regional cooperation within

the framework of multilateral and bilateral agreements.

In that context, I wish from this podium once again

not only to reaffirm the indispensable role of the

Organization in the implementation of the Dayton/Paris

Agreement and the Stability Pact, but also to reiterate my

gratitude for all the efforts, contributions and many

sacrifices made for Bosnia and Herzegovina. We have

witnessed in this past decade the capabilities and

efficiencies of international organizations, and especially

of the United Nations. At the same time, unfortunately,

we have noticed some weaknesses and imperfections that

endanger the role of the Organization as a vital and

irreplaceable Organization for the twenty-first century.

I believe that none of us has any doubts that the

United Nations is ready and able to pursue its noble

mission to continue to strengthen and develop its purpose

and ideals in the coming century. Even if the United

Nations has not achieved all of its goals, it was able to

safeguard global peace, initiate and make possible

sustainable development, appease many injustices

worldwide and, on top of all that, to come to very clear

visions about its own reforms.

The United Nations started reforming itself several

years ago but has not yet finished this task. This path

should indeed be vigorously pursued. I am of the view

that if the United Nations had the courage to change the

world, it can and must find the determination to change

itself more quickly and to adapt itself to face the

challenges of the next century. The millennium summit

could be envisaged as a great opportunity for heads of

State and Government of Member States meeting in the

year 2000 to verify and adopt a large part of these

reforms.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has thus far been to a

greater or lesser extent an object of consideration within

many international organizations and forums. The time

and the context that dictated such a position are

fortunately coming to an end. We are now becoming

aware of the necessity of

38

taking a more active, creative and responsible role in

international relations. That is why we observe with a more

critical eye the duties that we have taken on as a full

member of the family of nations, but that we have not yet

carried out or accomplished fully. Such an orientation is

more a result of the fact that we feel more self-confident

and are more and more trustful towards our friends and

partners in the United Nations and other international

organizations, forums and initiatives. An expression of this

is the decision taken by Bosnia and Herzegovina to reduce

its military expenses by 15 per cent in the hope of giving

an example to other nations.

Allow me to conclude this statement by quoting a

brilliant diplomat who once said, “People and States act

wisely only after they have exhausted all other

alternatives.”