Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2002

I am

grateful for the opportunity to address the General

Assembly at its fifty-seventh session. Allow me at the

23

outset to extend my warmest congratulations to Mr. Jan

Kavan on his well-deserved election to the presidency.

The tragic events of 11 September have made us

reconsider our achievements, real values, and the links

between poverty, development, sustainability, respect

for human rights and real progress. Yet, the goals

envisioned by the perpetrators of those crimes have

certainly not been fulfilled. The world has become

more united and more determined to fight terrorism as

a global threat to the values of civilization. The result

is increased cooperation among specialized services

and bodies of different States, as well as international

organizations. However, we must be prepared for a

long and exhausting confrontation with this evil of our

times.

Last year we were all rightly focused on

Afghanistan. Today we are concerned also about future

steps regarding Iraq as a great threat to world stability

and a shelter for terrorism. Fortunately, after a decade

of being in focus as a crisis area, that South-Eastern

Europe, the Balkans, along with Bosnia and

Herzegovina, as the heart of the region, are no longer

“CNN-able”, given the present growing stability.

The time has come to salute the new image of my

country and to start re-branding the perception of the

region as a whole, which no longer fits anymore the

“Balkan ghosts” stereotype. Great concerns such as

Iraq, the Middle East and Kashmir should not let us

forget that the Balkan region is bearing good news. We

are all striving to finish the job of fully integrating the

region into European democratic structures and values.

Enormous efforts and achievements are behind

us, but we have to be careful and patient until stability

becomes self-sustainable through the building of jobs,

justice and functioning institutions, which will hold

together new democracy.

In the light of last year's terrorist attacks on New

York and Washington, our fragile State — the only

European State where Muslims represent the majority

religious group — was confronted with the heavy

pressure of prejudice regarding a “clash between

civilizations”. But, as members may know, I come from

a State that represented a crossroads of different

cultures and religions, where different civilizations

lived for centuries in tolerance and mutual respect.

Today we are even more convinced that all

problems can be solved only through dialogue based on

good political will. From that position we have joined

the fight against terrorism and organized crime of all

kinds. We have heightened our struggle against

corruption by upgrading and strengthening our State

institutions. We have placed the rule of law at the top

of the agenda. Good work has been done, results have

been achieved and we have thus proved that Bosnia

and Herzegovina is not a no-man's land.

Building democratic institutions, economic

development and the protection and promotion of

human rights are more than ever at the top of our

priorities. Following the recent tragic events and all the

turbulent changes that Bosnia and Herzegovina has

experienced, we strongly believe in the paradigm of

democracy, development and peace as the pillars of

progress and stability for my country, but also for the

immediate neighbourhood and region as well. Only

responsible and accountable governance can bring

about necessary changes and progress for all.

Unfortunately, we are still confronted with the

heavy legacy of the past, and especially with the fact

that the main culprits for the crimes committed in

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko

Mladic, are at large. The moment they are brought to

justice, it will be easier to reach our goals. That is why

I would like at this juncture to emphasize the

importance of cooperation by all sides concerned with

the International Criminal Tribunal for the former

Yugoslavia in The Hague.

At the same time we are aware that

democratization is sometimes a long process. Post-

conflict peace-building is even more complex. But, we

have set the vision for developing a safe, peaceful,

stable and self-sustainable country, and we shall not

stop half way. Today, we are a full member of the

Council of Europe. More refugees and displaced

persons have returned in recent times as compared to

any other post-war period. In other words, in the last 18

months almost three times more properties, homes and

apartments were given back to refugees and displaced

persons all over Bosnia and Herzegovina than in the

previous five years. Many roads, many villages, many

roofs were built or repaired; many mosques and

churches have also been built or repaired.

The contribution of the United Nations Mission in

Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH), the Stabilization

Force, the High Representative, the Peace

Implementation Council, the Office of the United

24

Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),

the Organization for Security and Co-operation in

Europe (OSCE) and others in the family of the

international community present in Bosnia and

Herzegovina has been substantial in achieving the

present level of stability and reconstruction.

We particularly recognize the value and the role

of UNMIBH which is completing its mandate at the

end of this year. The police reform and restructuring,

with a view to meeting international standards of

organizational capacity and institutional integrity,

represents a clear success. The United Nations Mission

in Bosnia and Herzegovina was certainly one of the

key players also in establishing the foundation for

effective, democratic and sustainable law enforcement

agencies, a fundamental element for the further

development of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a multi-

ethnic, tolerant and democratic State. We welcome the

transfer of the remaining tasks in this area to the

European Union Police Mission, and especially the

extension of the European Union responsibility in the

area of juridical reform as one of the basic pillars of

self-sustainability, future democratization and the

reform process.

There should be no doubt that the United Nations

has the potential to fulfil its new tasks and thus respond

to the ever increasing challenges of the fast-changing

world. It should provide leadership in building a

prosperous world, founded no longer on force and

threats, but on the rules of international law and respect

for all rights, and rights for all.

In that context I would like to underline that we

support the further democratization and modernization

of the United Nations. New tasks and challenges call

increasing efficiency, cost rationalization and the equal

geographic participation of States and peoples in the

United Nations system. Bosnia and Herzegovina also

supports the continuation of work on reforming the

Security Council, adjusting its membership in

accordance with carefully designed criteria, taking into

account equal geographic representation but not

jeopardizing the efficiency of that United Nations

body.

Allow me to briefly mention some of the

priorities of today's Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnia

and Herzegovina has in the past two years proved its

determination to move from the position of passive aid

recipient from the international community to the

position of contributor to international efforts. The fact

that we are in a position to consider the need or even

the imperative of taking a more active and creative

role, and thus a bigger share of responsibility, testifies

to the trend of normalization of the situation in the

country.

Reconstruction is taking place and results are

visible in the economy, social reforms, education,

health care and so on. Economic reforms are directed

towards the establishment of a single economic space

and also with a view to setting up conditions for

upgraded education and thus to offering the choice for

our young generations to remain in Bosnia and

Herzegovina and become the frontrunners of its

development and future.

We have almost fully completed the conditions

set out in the European Union's road map, which we

hope will soon open the process of a feasibility study

for Bosnia and Herzegovina's signing of a stabilization

and association agreement with the European Union.

We have gone through the process of being the object

of international efforts and are now the partner in the

process of making an economically and institutionally

self-sustainable State of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This

is only one phase in a process of finally becoming the

owner of the changes in our country.

In partnership with the international community,

we are streamlining a common strategy for political

stability, institution-building and an economic recovery

programme as the precondition of overall sustainable

development. The entire region, including Bosnia and

Herzegovina, is entering a new stage of stability and

the European integration process, but we still have to

be on the alert. The ghosts of the past, segregation and

wars are losing ground.

In following the trials of war criminals before the

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former

Yugoslavia in The Hague, we are bearing witness to the

hope that justice and the future will finally bury

projects based on genocide. That is why we have to act

on a daily basis against those who are trying to open

the box of drawing new maps or calling for new wars

in the region.

So much energy and so many efforts of the local

and international communities have been invested so

far that we are not even allowed to consider anything

but a strategy for success. Any type of hypothetical exit

strategy of the international community can be based

25

only on a success strategy in building one multiethnic,

democratic and European State of Bosnia and

Herzegovina. Once again, I would like to express the

gratitude of my Government to the international

community for its devoted support towards long-lasting

stability and development in the region.

If the four million people of my country —

Muslims, Orthodox Catholics, Jews and others who

historically lived in tolerance, even in a non-

democratic environment — cannot now live in a

democratic and open society in the middle of Europe,

then the logical question after 11 September is: How

we can be consolidated and organized among the six

billion people of our planet?

Coming from Bosnia and Herzegovina, I am

driven by the force of optimism and the strength of

vision shared by the overall majority of those who do

not want to repeat the past, but are ready to fight for

the future. Jobs, justice for all, solidarity and Europe,

through reforms and strong state institutions, are the

items on our agenda today. We are determined to turn

these words into deeds.