The military intervention and the subsequent peace negotiations that ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina were among the most important achievements of his presidency but more needs to be done to push the country into the European Union and NATO, former U.S. President Bill Clinton said, marking the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement.
Marking the peace that was negotiated in Dayton, Ohio, and signed in Paris 25 years ago, Clinton said in a video message during a ceremony in Sarajevo’s City Hall on Saturday that the NATO campaign and the hard bargaining at Dayton afterwards “was some of the most important work of my presidency.”
He added that he still mourned that it took as long as it did to “unify all of Bosnia’s friends to stop the killing” and that “it took the awful genocide at Srebrenica to stir all the NATO members to action.”
And although the peace has been kept for the past 25 years, “we all know there’s still much more to be done,” he said, listing deep internal tensions, obstructions, too little economic opportunity, a steady return of hardline nationalism, disrespect for the rule of law and dangerous rhetoric among politicians as issues that still need to be dealt with.
“At the time the Dayton Accords were reached, we knew then that they represented a beginning, not an end. Reconciliation is not a finite process, it’s something you must begin again and again – day after day, year after year,” Clinton said and quoted late Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, who said that “even the most imperfect peace is better than the continuation of war.”
Clinton reminded that the country still has many friends who are “all pulling hard for you to solve the challenges and seize the opportunities of the moment.”
“We want you to succeed, and we’ll stand with you as long as you continue the hard work of putting the conflicts of the past behind you with an ever-deepening commitment to inclusion, cooperation and decision-making, to individual and minority rights, and to the rule of law,” he said.
Doing that, he argued, will help to break the political gridlock and will unleash many new opportunities, such as NATO and EU membership and larger international investments.
Society works best when everyone’s interest and worth is taken into account, when everyone is empowered with the chance to build their own lives and that of their families and communities, when everyone’s voice is heard, and when cooperation triumphs over conflict, he said he learned.
“All of these things, based on the understanding that our differences matter a lot. They make life interesting and important. But our common humanity matters much much more,” Clinton said.
Bosnians should “celebrate the fact that a whole generation has grown up free from the horrors of war.”
“Never forget that extraordinary achievement as you confront the challenges of today and tomorrow. And may it give you a renewed sense of determination to build a future of progress and prosperity, and inclusion,” Clinton concluded.
