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7440th Security Council meeting on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina
7440th Meeting (AM)
With renewed momentum for European integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina and new Government components in place, national leaders should work together to end the “stagnation” of progress in time for the upcoming twentieth anniversary of the accords that ended fighting there, the High Representative for the country told the Security Council this morning.
“I believe that a great deal can be achieved in 2015 if there is a renewed commitment within the country and among its political leaders to pull together and to work together,” Valentin Inzko said in his biannual briefing, in which he noted that the twentieth anniversary of the Dayton/Paris Peace Accords and of the Srebrenica massacre would take place before his next appearance at the Council.
There had been much progress since those events, he said, introducing his latest report (document S/2015/300), which noted continued calm in the country. However, he said, political divisiveness, including direct challenges to the Peace Agreement, unemployment and corruption must be faced in order to take full advantage of the written commitment concluded in March between all parties in the country that has “opened the way for the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union to enter into force”.
He called it good news that there were governments in place at the State and Entity levels that showed signs of readiness to start implementing that agreement. However, concrete progress was needed in the creation of new jobs, improvement in functioning of institutions and stemming of crime and corruption.
Reporting on an April attack on a police station in the country that resulted in the death of an officer, he said that the response of authorities was swift, but closer cooperation between authorities was needed at all levels to tackle law-enforcement challenges, including the ongoing fight against terrorism, which he acknowledged was a global challenge.
Calling, in addition, for an end to the divided “politics of the past”, he said that of particular concern in that context was a declaration adopted by the Republika Srpska National Assembly on 17 April that directly challenged the authority of the Constitutional Court.
The period of drawing of borders in Bosnia and Herzegovina was over, as was division and secession, he underlined. “Their place is in the history books,” he said. Any resuscitation of such tendencies must be dealt with firmly and decisively, he added, averring that “this is the era not of division, but of renewed bridge building.”
The international community must do all it could to help the forces of positive change in the country to reach their “surge capacity”, he said. Unfortunately, international support for his office was waning and it was increasingly difficult for him to fulfil his mandate. He asked for full support to help Bosnia and Herzegovina to move along the European path.
“Let us do all we can in the next six months to help these peoples to seize the opportunity the country has been given by the [European Union] so that 2015 is remembered as the year Bosnia and Herzegovina turned decisively to the future,” he said.
Following Mr. Inzko’s briefing, Council members took the floor to welcome the consolidation of Government in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the signing of the agreement for further progress in European integration. Most urged leaders in the country to close ranks to make further progress in necessary reforms and to address the economy, given the high unemployment rate. Most also expressed concern over continued political divisiveness and urged all parties to work towards national reconciliation and against efforts to undermine the Dayton Accords.
Many also condemned the attack on a police station, calling for urgent work in the country and the region to stop terrorist recruitment. Serbia’s representative, noting that the slain officer was from the Republika Srpska, also supported regional cooperation in fighting extremism and ending the flow of terrorist fighters, while supporting Bosnia and Herzegovina’s progress towards European integration.
The representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina affirmed that after seven years, “the strong [European Union] perspective is once again occupying a central place in the political agenda of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, providing impetus for progress.
Along with internal reforms, she said the country was focusing on its enhanced cooperation within the region to deal with serious socioeconomic problems, including youth unemployment. The attack on the police station served as a reminder that violent extremism was of great concern for the region and the world; she pledged her country would continue to participate in global efforts to combat it.
The Head of the European Union Delegation, announcing that the Stabilization and Association Agreement would enter into force on 1 June 2014, following the recent commitments, invited the Council to urge leaders in Bosnia and Herzegovina “to maintain the positive momentum by delivering on reforms, to look beyond persistent political divisions and to finally and decisively move the country forward on its reform agenda, towards stability and prosperity for all its citizens, on the path the EU.”
Also speaking were representatives of the United States, Chile, Russian Federation, Malaysia, Venezuela, Nigeria, New Zealand, France, Spain, United Kingdom, Jordan, Angola, China, Chad, Lithuania, Croatia and Serbia.
The meeting began at 10:05 a.m. and ended at 12:03 p.m.
