Representatives of the United States, Belgium and Germany expressed support to Bosnia’s international administrator as he presented his semi-annual report on the situation in the country to the UN Security Council.
High Representative Valentin Inzko, the foreign diplomat overseeing the civilian implementation of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement which ended Bosnia’s war and contains its constitution, named a number of issues that have been stifling progress in the country for years.
RELATED NEWS
“We will continue to support everything that the EU and the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina are doing. We remain committed to the credible EU perspective for Bosnia and Herzegovina and its NATO path for cooperation in the future,” said Germany’s representative, Christoph Heusgen.
“It’s important that we continue with the implementation of the Dayton (Agreement) and one of the basic principles for rule of law,” he added.
He also commented on statements the Russian Permanent Representative made regarding the 1995 genocide in the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica.
“We must prevent the rewriting of history, this refers to Srebrenica where we must show respect to the victims,” he said.
Belgium’s Representative, Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve, said that it is important that “all political leaders make a step forward in the fight against corruption at the time of the pandemic.”
“We firmly believe that the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina is within the EU,” he said, stressing the importance of implementing reforms which would take the country closer toward membership.
He added that the glorification of war criminals in Bosnia, one of the issues Inzko named in his report, is “unacceptable.”
Both the German and the Belgian representatives praised the appointment of Angelica Nussberger to Bosnia’s Constitutional Court.
According to US Permanent Representative, Kelly Craft, “a lot of work has been done but there is still a lot left to do.”
“We support your mandate in implementing the civilian aspect of the Dayton Peace Agreement,” she told Inzko.
She added the UN must insist on fair democratic elections in the country, whether they take place this year or are postponed.
“Bosnia and Herzegovina must remain on the path toward EU integrations and NATO,” she said.
