Speeches

May I begin by thanking you for inviting me to address you today, and to engage with you in what I hope will be a frank and uninhibited question and answer session afterwards.
This is the third time I have spoken in a legislature since I arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina just two months ago. And I look forward to making it four when the RSNA [...]

Let me start by conveying to you the High Representative’s apologies for not being able to come here to address you today. He has asked me to come and speak to you on his behalf, and to assure you that he will make good on his commitment by coming up to address you in person at the earliest opportunity. I intend to speak only for a few minute [...]

On Tuesday, 23 July 2002, the Brcko District Assembly adopted the Brcko District Government’s proposal declaring the public interest in expropriating in Arizona Market. This important and necessary step follows the Assembly’s earlier actions in approving the December 2001 contract with Italproject, and approving the Regulatory Plan for [...]

So. Here we are again. At the current rate, I am in danger of addressing the BiH State Parliament more often than I used to address my own Parliament back in London!
But seriously, I am grateful for this opportunity to speak to you once again, to expand upon the message I brought you a couple of months ago, and to open up a meaningful dialo [...]

The great nineteenth-century British prime minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, William Gladstone, once wrote that “finance is the stomach of the country, from which all other organs take their tone.”
A century and a half later, the International Community’s High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Paddy Ashdow [...]

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to all of you today about the current situation in BiH. Bosnia is a very special project for all of us. It is a multiethnic country in Europe faced with a three-fold task – first the country itself must design its own national identity; second its people must overcome the horrors of a civil war [...]

It is a great honor for us that you are all here. It is also my honor to thank those who have contributed to this magnificent project, starting with former U.S. Secretary of State Albright and the U.S. Government, which committed most of the funds, and the European Union for contributions of equipment. The UNA Construction Company – represen [...]

We came here today to address the challenges facing businesspeople in BiH and to find ways of overcoming those challenges. Why is this a priority? Because when businesses grow they generate prosperity, they create jobs, they deliver goods and services that help raise living standards. Everybody benefits. The return of refugees to their homes and th [...]

Before I begin my speech, I’d like to say one thing. I cannot and will not predict the outcome of a criminal investigation. But I want to state clearly that I believe the decision by the RS Minister of Finance, Milenko Vracar, to resign yesterday evening was an honourable and brave political act.

Today’s ceremony is not simply about appointing individuals to responsible and challenging positions. It is about a broader issue, an issue that cuts to the heart of everything we have, together, sought to do in Bosnia and Herzegovina since the end of the war. It is about protecting the people of this country, protecting their rights and prot [...]