Speeches

First, let me say thank you to our host, the Tropic Holding Company. I am looking forward to hearing in some detail about the steps that were taken in order to create an effective management structure for this company of more than 400 employees.
This is an unusual gathering – at least in BiH – because we are here to talk about a subject tha [...]

We are gathered here in the cold of a Bosnian winter to bid farewell to our friend and colleague, Sven Frederiksen.
Sven’s warmth as a human being was one of his foremost qualities.
We could have done with that warmth today.
Sarajevo has seen more than its fair share of sadness as a city.
Sven devoted so much of his pro [...]

Mr President, Mr Mayor, Councillors, representatives of the District Administration and the Judiciary, distinguished guests:
Last summer, I was asked to take the position of Supervisor of Brcko. The more I learned about the it, the Final Award, and the important work going on here, the more interested I became. It’s now a great pleasure fo [...]

Transformation means different things to different people. It depends a good deal on one’s vantage point. Southeast Europe has different contours when viewed from Brussels than from say Skopje, or for that matter, from Sofia or from Sarajevo.
Today I want to provide a perspective on Balkan transition from an insider point of view. When you s [...]

This country must take urgent steps now to ensure job growth and economic expansion. It can’t be done by the government alone, everyone—the International Community, mayors and citizens themselves – must do their part. But it is clear to me that it can be done, because there are already pockets of economic prosperity developing around this country [...]

2003 marked a turning point for the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2004, we risk turning back to the past again.
Most international observers, and many in BiH itself, didn’t believe we could come so far in 2003. But as a result of the reforms this year, we now enter the year ahead daring to hope that BiH can finally look to a real fu [...]

The International Community has been engaged in the returns process for eight years and is now transferring responsibility into the hands of the BiH authorities.

Setting up the regional centres in Banja Luka, Sarajevo, Tuzla and Mostar, to coordinate return efforts in the field and monitor reconstruction carried out by the MHRR with [...]

In recent months I have been able to meet with mayors from all over the country – leaders of the largest municipalities and the smallest.
I have learned that you know what needs to be done and how it needs to be done.
So we have the right group of people here today if we want to draw up practical, effective ways of making BiH work bet [...]

In Brussels last week the political directors of the Peace Implementation Council noted with approval that the BiH Development Strategy, approved by all three prime ministers in early December, has been drawn up through a process of exhaustive consultation with citizens.
This is a Made-in-BiH document; it encompasses the main elements of the [...]

Rebuilding a country is like rebuilding a house.
You have to put a huge amount of effort into things that are necessary but won’t show when the work is over. Solid foundations, naturally. Wiring and plumbing: also essential – and to put these in, you have to take other things out, like walls and windows. There will be weeks of plastering a [...]