The outgoing Chairman of Bosnia’s Council of Ministers, effectively the Prime Minister, praised on Friday the speech that the newly appointed US Ambassador to Bosnia gave in his first press conference in Sarajevo a day before, saying that the message was one of “peace and stability.”
In his speech, Eric Nelson stressed that the US will “continue to be a guarantor of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
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“My top priority will be helping Bosnia and Herzegovina to achieve progress toward its declared goals of becoming a member of NATO and the EU,” he said.
The statement comes at a time when leaders of the country’s three main ethnic groups quarrel over potential NATO membership. The country took several steps already but as of last year, Bosnian Serb representatives changed their minds and now refuse to allow Bosnia to join the alliance, arguing they want to do what neighbouring Serbia does.
Serbia declared military neutrality.
Bosniaks argue that the tripartite presidency has years ago decided that the country should join and that as part of the rule of law this decision must be respected and implemented.
“The message of Ambassador Nelson was clear and unambiguous, and it represents the resumption of the continuous friendly support to our state Bosnia and Herzegovina, its sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as European and NATO integrations,” Council of Ministers Chairman Denis Zvizdic said, adding that he is “thankful” to the ambassador for “pointing out the importance of respecting the rule of law.”
Zvizdic described rule of law and advocating a higher level of security and prosperity for all Bosnian citizens as “key priorities of the work of the Council of Ministers and all Bosnian institutions.”
“I am convinced that the well-intended messages of the US Ambassador will be understood by all political forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina so that fulfilling the conditions of the European and NATO agenda is not daily politics for us, but rather an issue of the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he said.
Nelson said in his speech on Thursday that he arrived in the country at a time when “Bosnia and Herzegovina is reaching a very important point on that path to securing a promising future” and when “the necessity for reforms is becoming more pressing.”
“The need for courageous, forward-looking leadership is even more critical. Empty promises and rhetoric alone will become even more futile. We are here to help, but the responsibility to progress rests with the actions of BiH leaders, and with the citizens to hold leaders accountable,” he added.
