The High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, today extended the mandate of his Special Envoy Ulrich Bucher to include Gornji Vakuf, with a special emphasis on promoting the reunification process in this municipality.
More than five years after the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement, Gornji Vakuf remains, de facto, a split municipality. This situation is untenable as there are no legal grounds for the establishment of two municipalities. Central Bosnia Canton, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the International Community do not recognise any such separation.
Since 1999, Ulrich Bucher has held the position of the High Representative’s Special Envoy to Bugojno (Central Bosnia Canton) and Prozor-Rama (Herzegovina-Neretva Canton). A retired officer from the German Army, Mr Bucher also held several positions in the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in 1998 joined the European Union Monitoring Mission in Kosovo.