In most communities in the world, the issuing of a new license plate would not be invested with quite the totemic significance that it is here in Bosnia.

We are here today to unveil what is perhaps the most talked about license plate in the world. It has been discussed by Foreign Ministers at meetings across Europe. It has been the subject, frankly, of far too much talking.

But now the talking has stopped, agreement has been reached, and we have one, common license plate for the whole of the country.

This is a great step forward. Where previously drivers had feared that the license plates on their car could - and did - serve as invitation for thuggery or worse, with the new plates drivers will be able to travel freely around the country without parading where they come from.

It brings Bosnia into line with the practice in many European countries, including the UK, Sweden, Finland, Belgium and Spain.

This event this morning is a symbolic one. Within the next ten days, the Ministers of the Interior will sign contracts for the full production of the plates. An initial 4000 have already been produced. Funding by the international community to the tune of DM30,000 per Entity will kick start the process, money spent with one aim in mind: to get traffic around Bosnia moving again.

The new plates will be available to the public from 15 February. I hope drivers will move swiftly to re-register their vehicles. It pays to do so. For the first two months the price will be DM15. Thereafter it will double to DM30. After that the price will rise again. So my advice is simple: get in quick.

The plates will be obtainable at the same places as in the past; the precise dates when the plates will be available in each municipality will be announced in the media.

If you want to travel abroad, you'll need to have the new plates on your car before 30 April, otherwise you won't be able to leave Bosnia. And from 31 July, ALL vehicles in the country will need to have the new plates.

So today is quantum step forward for Bosnia. Not the only one in recent weeks. 1998 is already a good year for peace in Bosnia. We're moving ahead now across the board.

In a few days we will have a new flag;
In a few days the new license plate will be hitting the street;
In a few weeks we will have new bank notes and new passports in circulation.

At last, we're really moving.

- Let me now invite Madame Rehn to say a few words and then [Mr Zilic, the Federation Minister of the Interior followed by his Deputy Mr Leutar.

After Mme Rehn, and Messrs Zilic and Mr Leutar have spoken

- May I now invite Elizabeth Rehn and Mr Dahic [Cantonal Minister of the Interior] to join me in attaching the new license plate to this lucky first car in front of us here.

---

Speech by the Principal Deputy High Representative, Amb. Jacques Paul Klein, February 02, 1998