OHR related Interviews

Wolfgang Petritsch, the High Representative of the International Community in BiH, on the occasion of his leaving of this position in which he will be succeeded by well-known British politician Lord Paddy Ashdown is giving a review of his mandate: Billions of Kunas sent from Zagreb disappeared in Hercegovacka Banka

I would assess the past three years as a great success that should be credited not to myself but primarily to my partners from the International Community as well as the Alliance. The indicted war criminals at large, the third GSM operator and non-implemented economic reforms are the three biggest failures which the outgoing High Representative for [...]

Wolfgang Petritsch is leaving the position of the High Representative of International Community in BiH at the end of May. In a farewell interview given to Vecernji List he talks about Croat political pluralism in BiH, the coming elections, his successor Paddy Ashdown and the people he politically retired by his decisions.

Reform of the BiH judicial system is one of the main tasks of Matthias Sonn, German ambassador carrying out the duty of the Senior Deputy High Representative. Upon the decision by the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council dated February 28, he has been chairing the newly formed Task Force for the Rule of Law. That team is co-ordinating [...]

This is not the end of changes to the unusual setup of BiH - By refraining from voting, the SDA showed it was wrong – You have so many levels of government that it is questionable whether you can afford it. The Sarajevo Agreement on implementation of the Constitutional Court’s decision on the constituent status of peoples on the whole [...]

I have noticed that in BiH there is a clear distinction between the people who make a lot of money and the rest of the population. If the activities, undertaken by the Head of the RS Tax Administration, Milica Bisic, could be replicated in some other places, this country would stand on its feet much faster

This is the first in a series of interviews in which we search for the ‘consciences’ of countries in the shadow of Europe. The series sheds light on the troublesome quest of nations at Europe’s border seeking full integration into the established Europe. In Europe’s periphery, we hear complaints about lack of attention and l [...]

The Agreement on implementation of the Decision on the constituent status of peoples in accordance with the decision of the BiH Constitutional Court is not at an impasse. It is not threatened and there is no risk that it will fail or be abandoned. It contains very explicit instructions for those who should implement it as to what they should do and [...]

It is quite clear that the Election Law sets out certain deadlines which have to be respected. I am talking about April 18th when the Election Commission will announce the exact date that the elections should take place. Therefore, we have to finish with the amendments before April 18th and that is the last date before which everything has to be en [...]

Ambassador Donald S. Hays, Principal Deputy High Representative for BiH, American diplomat in charge of coordination of anti fraud efforts, speaks for the first time about the widespread crime in the Herzegovacka Bank, its appalling dimensions and the alliance between Herzegovina businessmen and former Croatian government; he is announcing that the [...]