Instead of doing the work needed to create jobs and economic growth, root out corruption, end discrimination, and enable freer and fairer elections, Bosnian politicians seek to distract and to abandon their own responsibility, US Ambassador to BiH Eric Nelson wrote in his Blog Wednesday, adding that they do so by stoking fear and division reminiscent of the 1990s.

Below is the full, unedited blog post from His Excellency Eric Nelson:

When the United States brokered the Dayton Peace Agreement to end the war of the 1990s it put in the hands of BiH leaders and citizens the important opportunity to build peace and stability. Today we are supporting BiH's efforts to achieve a prosperous future in the Euro-Atlantic Community built on those foundations.

The United States remains a friend to BiH and firmly supports its territorial integrity and sovereignty. Together with our EU, UK and other partners, we are resolute in our support for BiH citizens’ basic expectation that they can make a living, raise children in an environment of mutual respect, and elect leaders who respond to their needs instead of lining their pockets and robbing them of hope. Every KM that goes into a politician’s pocket is a KM not used to educate children, improve infrastructure, or provide a living wage to BiH citizens. This has become even clearer through this devastating pandemic in which far too many people in BiH and around the world have died while politicians fail to cooperate.

Every day, citizens feel the effects of a short-sighted focus on entity competencies rather than on creating a functional BiH that strengthens all citizens. The simple and important impacts can cost lives, like the lack of a central 112 emergency number. An updated state-level e-signature law is another commonsense reform that will improve the life of every BiH citizen by reducing bureaucracy, speeding up delivery of public services, and easing international commerce. A central registry of bank accounts is necessary to combat money laundering, hinder corruption, block terrorist financing, and better secure the banking sector.

The future of all citizens is a single BiH of two entities, three constituent peoples, with all citizens moving together as part of the European community. As Secretary Blinken communicated clearly, basic yet important rule of law, economic, and electoral reforms are what BiH leaders can achieve this year.

Instead of doing the work needed to create jobs and economic growth, root out corruption, end discrimination, and enable freer and fairer elections, politicians seek to distract and to abandon their own responsibility.

They do so by stoking fear and division reminiscent of the 1990s, a period to which nobody wants to return. They call for secession, want to revert to a retrograde “Original Dayton,” and call into question the DPA-guaranteed existence of both entities. These distractions serve leaders’ interests by preserving the opaque and unequal economic and political systems that enrich them and maintain their influence at the expense of ordinary citizens and lives. Sanctions for destabilizing the DPA and for corruption are on the table. Citizens can deliver an even more powerful sanction at the ballot box.

This is why reforms are so essential in this non-election year and why leaders seem intent on distracting citizens from what is at stake. The United States is here to support all efforts that will take BiH forward toward the EU and a brighter future. It's not too late for leaders to “get real” and deliver on citizen expectations for action on real problems. BiH leaders have in the past demonstrated that they have the power and capability to reach consensus and to collaborate step-by-step to change things for the better for the citizens of this country.