Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2006

It is

a great honour and a pleasure to address the General

Assembly at its sixty-first session on behalf of Bosnia

and Herzegovina.

First of all, I would like to congratulate

Ms. Al-Khalifa on her election to her important post,

and also to thank the former President for his

contribution to the United Nations reform process.

Bosnia and Herzegovina aligns itself with the

statement made by the representative of the European

Union (EU), which provides a framework for the

discussion of issues such as peace, stability,

development, human rights, the rule of law and the

need to further strengthen and reform the United

Nations.

We endorse the EU statement, but we would also

like to share with the Assembly Bosnia and

Herzegovina’s experience in peacebuilding, the

implementation of human rights and the rule of law

and economic development in a post-conflict

environment. We believe that in that way we can

contribute to the future success of the international

community elsewhere in the world.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is, beyond any doubt, an

example of successful intervention by the international

community, despite a few negative experiences. I

would like to make it absolutely clear that the job in

Bosnia and Herzegovina is not yet done. There are still

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some bridges that we have to cross before we will have

finished the 15-year-long marathon task of stopping the

fighting, promoting reconciliation and building a stable

Bosnia and Herzegovina with a view to becoming an

EU member in the near future.

Bosnia and Herzegovina belongs to Europe; it is

part of the European continent. Medical students —

future doctors — all take the Hippocratic oath. They

swear to apply the highest ethical norms. Law students

get their basic training from the standards of Roman

law. The European heritage and European practices are

firmly rooted in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We must

now embrace all European Union standards and norms.

We do not feel discouraged when we hear people talk

of “enlargement fatigue”. Through the enlargement

process, Europe is spreading democracy itself. It would

be completely contrary to EU and United Nations

principles to grow tired of the spread of democracy.

Recent events in the Middle East have shown us

how important it is to achieve a just and lasting peace

there. But just as we sympathize with people living in

crisis areas today, so too those living in such areas can

observe the process of peacebuilding in Bosnia. One

should pay attention not just to the stabilization of one

State in the Balkans but also to the capacity that the EU

and the rest of the international community have to

initiate swift and efficient intervention.

We in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been assisted

by the United Nations, NATO, the EU, the

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,

the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the

Council of Europe. We have also benefited from other,

unique assistance mechanisms, such as the recently

established Office of the High Representative and the

Peace Implementation Council, which include

European Union members, Japan, Russia, the United

States of America, Canada, Turkey and others.

The war has been stopped, the refugees have

returned and today we are negotiating a Stabilization

and Association Agreement with the EU. However,

none of us should allow the current flaws in Bosnia

and Herzegovina to develop into something more

serious, leading to instability.

As magnificent as it was in terms of stopping the

war, the Dayton Peace Agreement did not tackle some

essential issues, such as providing for every citizen to

enjoy equal rights throughout the country, or for the

State to be able to exercise its powers as a modern,

multi-ethnic State.

Many visitors to my country are especially

impressed by the number of churches, mosques and

synagogues that there are, and the way in which they

coexist in close proximity to one another, serving their

purpose in Bosnia and Herzegovina. That is the spirit

of Bosnia that we inherited from our ancestors, but the

Dayton Agreements have not enabled us to maintain

that traditional aspect of the country.

On the other hand, Bosnia and Herzegovina has

been able to achieve economic and political

development, which strengthens its prospects for

joining Euro-Atlantic integration processes. The

number of foreign military troops on our soil has been

reduced tenfold and the mandate of the EU-led

peacekeeping force has shifted from stabilization to

integration. We have established a single economic

space and a single judiciary system, and the various

intelligence services are now united and are for the

first time under strict and democratic parliamentary

supervision. We have formed a single State-level

Ministry of Defence, and thereby qualified for

accession to the NATO Partnership for Peace

programme.

Bosnia and Herzegovina, as it is today, was not

shaped by conventional political means. Its structure

was defined by the Dayton Peace Agreement as a way

to prevent war. The sustainability of the Bosnia and

Herzegovina of Dayton has been strengthened by the

launching of the Stabilization and Association

Agreement negotiations with the European Union,

which began on the tenth anniversary of the signing of

the Dayton Agreement.

The Office of the High Representative is

scheduled to be abolished in the middle of next year.

That Office will be transformed into the Office of the

Special Representative of the EU for Bosnia and

Herzegovina. That should be linked to our signing of

the SAA with the European Union. So far, negotiations

have gone well, and Bosnia has demonstrated sufficient

awareness and technical ability to enable it to embark

on the Euro-integration project. We are preparing for

elections in October, but, unfortunately, the ongoing

campaigns have delayed our efforts to fulfil the vital

political criteria.

Next week, by voting, the citizens of Bosnia and

Herzegovina will have an opportunity to participate in

35 06-52885

the shaping of their future. They deserve election

campaigns that look not at the past, but towards the

future. They do not deserve campaigns such as the one

that was characterized last week by the EU Council of

Ministers as a cause for concern and prompted it to

stress the EU’s commitment to the territorial integrity

of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Bosnia and Herzegovina participates actively in

regional cooperation, and we participate in all regional

initiatives, including the Stability Pact for South

Eastern Europe, the South-East European Cooperation

Process, the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative and many

other programmes and projects. On that basis, a huge

number of bilateral and multilateral agreements were

signed, creating an international legal framework for

cooperation on and the harmonization of a number of

issues.

That is especially interesting in the light of the

Kosovo issue. Bosnia and Herzegovina keeps a close

eye on the negotiations. We believe that any solution

must be the result of negotiations if both sides are to

accept it. Any future solution should accommodate a

common future within the Euro-Atlantic environment.

The consequences of the final solution, once it is

found, must under no circumstances jeopardize the

stability of the region or that of the neighbouring

States.

I am pleased to inform the Assembly that the

Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina is on

the path to successfully achieving the Millennium

Development Goals. Those priorities are

complementary with the criteria for European Union

membership. In cooperation with the International

Atomic Energy Agency, Bosnia and Herzegovina is

developing capacities for the detection and prevention

of illegal trading in and the proliferation of radioactive

materials throughout our territory.

As a mine-affected country, Bosnia and

Herzegovina is quite active in the implementation of

the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use,

Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel

Mines and on Their Destruction. It is well known that

there is still a significant number of landmines in our

country as a consequence of war. I should like to thank

all the countries that have contributed to the demining

process in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We are also playing an active role in United

Nations programmes that address the issue of

HIV/AIDS. We have established a State-level

commission to fight AIDS. Its current activities focus

on preventing the disease from spreading, establishing

an early warning system, and informing the public of

the dangers of the disease.

As a young democracy and a country with special

experience, Bosnia and Herzegovina supported the

forming of the Human Rights Council and the

strengthening of the role of the Office of the High

Commissioner for Human Rights. We believe that their

work is gaining in importance every day. We strongly

and decisively support the international system for

universal human rights protection.

In my country, human rights have been violated

not only by war and crises, but also by certain

decisions of the international community. One example

is the problem of decertified police officers. The

decisions of the United Nations-led international police

caused them to lose their work permits. They were

offered no opportunity to file complaints or take their

cases to any type of court review. Our Ministry for

Human Rights has prepared, in close cooperation with

the Office of the High Representative for the

Implementation of the Peace Agreement on Bosnia and

Herzegovina, a possible model for a review process, to

be led by the European Union Police Mission in Bosnia

and Herzegovina, the current representative of the

international police presence in the country. The absurd

and flagrant violation of human rights committed by

the United Nations itself is a mistake that must be

acknowledged. It can thereby be corrected and the

credibility of the United Nations as an institution

preserved.

One of the most important international

obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina is cooperation

with The Hague Tribunal for war crimes. That is

indeed a precondition for long-term stability. That is

why it was offered to the entire region as a condition of

further progress in Euro-Atlantic terms. According to

the data gathered by both domestic and foreign

intelligence, most wanted war criminals are not hiding

on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Our

institutions are focused on cutting off the financial

support networks. It is a sad and pitiful fact that

Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic have not yet been

arrested, but it is even worse for Bosnia and

Herzegovina and its citizens to be punished because of

the two of them. We are penalizing the victims instead

of punishing the criminals. Bosnia and Herzegovina

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must be allowed to pursue progress on its road to

democratization and the European Union, because

improvement in that regard will create an even stronger

mechanism for destroying the war criminals’ support

network.

The horrible terrorist attacks on New York, the

anniversary of which we recently marked, changed the

world’s entire security paradigm. The attacks made us

think in ever more serious terms. Terrorism is one of

the greatest challenges faced by the modern world, and

it is virtually impossible for countries to respond to

such a challenge individually. Member States may

individually strengthen their capacities, but a global

and complete response can be achieved only by the

United Nations.

Having established the Ministry of Security, an

intelligence agency and an investigations and

protection agency at the State level, and by

coordinating their work through the Counter-Terrorism

Task Force, we have undertaken a series of very

important steps not just in terms of internal reforms,

but also in terms of our contribution to the global anti-

terrorist campaign. We have adopted an anti-terrorism

strategy for the period 2006-2009 that will guide us

through the implementation of European standards in

that field. We are in the final stages of adopting a new

law on the fight against terrorism and financial support

for terrorism.

Bosnia and Herzegovina wholeheartedly

supported the establishment of the Peacebuilding

Commission, and we genuinely hoped to contribute

actively to its work. The experience of peacebuilding

in Bosnia is vast and relevant, and we are eager to

share it with other Member States.

Although our country was not elected, we wish to

thank all those who supported us through the process.

At the very least, we sent yet another signal to the

world that we are no longer simply the receivers of

international aid. The support we gained has

encouraged us to continue to insist on a more balanced

and more proactive participation in United Nations

projects worldwide. In that context, I stress Bosnia and

Herzegovina’s aspirations as a candidate for non-

permanent membership of the Security Council for the

term 2010-2011, and I would welcome the Assembly’s

support in that regard.

Despite our limited capacities, we try to

participate in international peace efforts. We have sent

our military observers and police officers to the Congo,

Ethiopia, Liberia, Haiti, the Sudan, Eritrea and Cyprus.

As a sign of our support for the Iraqi people, we have

deployed a demining squadron to assist, to the extent

of its capacities, in building a sustainable and stable

Iraq.

The escalation of conflict in the Middle East

marked this summer and claimed many victims,

numerous civilians among them. We support Security

Council resolution 1701 (2006) calling for a full

cessation of hostilities. We particularly appreciate the

diplomatic efforts of Security Council members,

including the United States and France, that led to the

final harmonization of the resolution. We hope that this

positive breakthrough will constitute a sound basis for

diplomatic efforts in the Middle East and that lasting

peace will finally be achieved in that region.

I would also like to call attention to the

humanitarian issues that are generally discussed at

every session of the General Assembly. In order to

contribute to the work of the humanitarian agencies

and United Nations efforts in general regarding that

very important field, Bosnia and Herzegovina has

submitted to the membership a draft declaration

relating to basic tenets of humanitarian action in

emergency situations, contained in document A/60/627.

The Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina seeks to

contribute to progress in world preparedness for

emergency situations on the basis of our own lessons

learnt. I invite Member States to consider the adoption

of the draft declaration and to continue to contribute to

progress in such important activities globally.

In conclusion, I thank all members for the

assistance and support that we received from the

international community in years gone by and to

express my hope that they will use their voices to

support Bosnia and Herzegovina as a candidate for

non-permanent Security Council membership. In so

doing, they will contribute to Bosnia’s assumption of

its place in international relations. Furthermore, I wish

to thank Mr. Kofi Annan, on behalf of Bosnia and

Herzegovina, for his contribution and commitment to

stability and prosperity in my country. He has

confirmed his commitment by visiting us twice.