OHR related Articles
04/20/2007
Weekly column by Christian Schwarz-Schilling, High Representative for BiH: “A Profound and Pressing Obligation”
This week, I met with representatives of survivors' associations from Srebrenica and Podrinje. Nothing can begin to assuage the grief of those who continue to this day to suffer because of the genocide perpetrated in and around Srebrenica in July 1995. This does not mean that we throw up our hands as if we were helpless – everything possible must b [...]
04/13/2007
Weekly column by Christian Schwarz-Schilling, High Representative for BiH: “Coming Home”
Figures released by the Foreign Ministry this week show that 1,343,805 citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina are currently living abroad. More than 800,000 live in other parts of Europe, and nearly half a million are resident in the United States and Canada.
04/09/2007
Article by Raffi Gregorian, Principal Deputy High Representative: “Rejecting Police Reform is Rejecting European Integration”
Rhetorically at least, many political leaders in Republika Srpska appear to believe that they can both support Bosnia and Herzegovina’s European integration and reject police reform. The problem with this position is that without police reform, Bosnia and Herzegovina has no prospect of European integration.
04/06/2007
Weekly column by Christian Schwarz-Schilling, High Representative for BiH: “Time to Change Thinking as Well as Clothes”
Springtime is a season of new beginnings, new opportunities, new hopes. It’s a time to open windows and clear out cobwebs. And it’s the time of year to make changes and make plans...
03/30/2007
Weekly column by Christian Schwarz-Schilling, High Representative for BiH: “Gesture Politics Deliver Nothing”
In just the last ten days we have witnessed a spate of political manoeuvres that have taken up a great deal of time and energy (and in some cases public funds) but produced no positive dividends for citizens.
03/23/2007
Weekly column by Christian Schwarz-Schilling, High Representative for BiH: “Europe’s Doors are Open”
Twelve years after the end of World War Two – building on agreements made by shattered countries to improve their prospects by cooperating in the production and distribution of necessary but scarce materials (including coal and steel) – Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and The Netherlands signed the Treaty of Rome, establishing the Europ [...]
03/16/2007
Weekly column by Christian Schwarz-Schilling, High Representative for BiH: “Compromise and Reform or Throw Away Golden Opportunity”
Two of Europe’s most influential officials are in Bosnia and Herzegovina today: Olli Rehn, the European Union’s Commissioner for Enlargement, and Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, NATO’s Secretary General. They are here because Bosnia and Herzegovina has a real chance of integrating successfully in Euro-Atlantic structures. They are also here because the inte [...]
03/15/2007
Article by Christian Schwarz-Schilling, High Representative for BiH “Beyond zero-sum politics”
You don’t have to be bright to know what you want – a child knows what it wants. But it takes imagination to understand what other people want. The history of former Yugoslavia is littered with failed politicians who only knew what it was they wanted.
Focusing exclusively on your own aspirations is a sign of weakness. It absolves you from ha [...]
Focusing exclusively on your own aspirations is a sign of weakness. It absolves you from ha [...]
03/09/2007
Weekly column by Christian Schwarz-Schilling, High Representative for BiH:Stop holding Bosnia and Herzegovina hostage to “big issues”
Bosnia and Herzegovina has “big issues” to deal with – post-war recovery and reconciliation, building a democracy, building a market economy, joining Europe.
When you have difficult tasks, you don’t go at them all at once and all in the same way. The sensible approach is to complete the tasks that can be completed straight away, and [...]
When you have difficult tasks, you don’t go at them all at once and all in the same way. The sensible approach is to complete the tasks that can be completed straight away, and [...]
03/02/2007
Weekly column by Christian Schwarz-Schilling, High Representative for BiH “The Way Forward”
The Peace Implementation Council decided this week to retain the Office of the High Representative and Bonn Powers for another year to help Bosnia and Herzegovina deal with the key challenges it faces in the coming months.
At our meeting in Brussels, I presented the PIC Steering Board with my assessment that progress made by the dome [...]
At our meeting in Brussels, I presented the PIC Steering Board with my assessment that progress made by the dome [...]