11/12/2013 OHR

HR Inzko Addresses UN Security Council

There is still time for the ruling parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina to turn things around before the October 2014 elections, High Representative Valentin Inzko told the UN Security Council today, but he warned that “time is running out”.

The failure by party leaders to reach agreement, up until now, to take appropriate action to deal with military property and the Sejdic-Finci ruling of the European Court of Human Rights has blocked the path to NATO and EU integration, the High Representative said.

He pointed out that the constitutional changes required by the Sejdic-Finci ruling are not only a condition for BiH to move towards EU membership, but implementing the ruling is also “a test of the country’s ability to apply basic human rights standards”.

Presenting his report for the period from 20 April to 21 October, the High Representative cited inadequacies in the governing structure in the Federation, challenges to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s sovereignty by politicians from Republika Srpska, and failure by institutions to implement rulings of the Constitutional Court as evidence of still unresolved problems in the country.

He warned of “an overall lack of urgency” among party leaders and said that popular protests have articulated “the fundamental dissatisfaction” of citizens throughout the country. “The public has understood something which many leaders in Bosnia and Herzegovina have still failed to grasp: that democracy is not only something to be exercised every four years through elections.”

The High Representative highlighted the key role played by the EU and NATO military missions in reassuring the public that Bosnia and Herzegovina remains safe and secure, and welcomed the continuation of EUFOR’s and NATO’s deployments under an executive mandate.

He expressed absolute conviction that “Bosnia and Herzegovina, its leaders, and its peoples still have every chance to work together, to succeed, and to prosper,” and he called on the international community “to support all those in Bosnia and Herzegovina who are ready to help the country progress and to stand against those who would take the country backwards towards further division and disintegration”.

The full text of the High Representative’s speech can be accessed here.