08/18/1999 OHR Sarajevo

Brcko Arbitration Award Annex

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The final version of the Annex to the Brcko Award was issued today, marking an end to nearly four years of arbitration over this most difficult of issues.

The High Representative considers the Final Award, issued in March, and now the final version of the Annex, to be both balanced and just. There are no winners or losers: all can live in and benefit from the Brcko District.

The governments of both the RS and the Federation provided substantive and useful contributions to the Annex, which deals with the implementation details of the March award. The Arbitrator, Roberts Owen, has indicated that he accepted most of the proposals. The only exceptions were in cases where it was deemed more appropriate for those proposals to be dealt with in the District Statute, or where the proposal was inconsistent with the overall District plan.

Other international organizations in BiH, including OHR and OSCE, also provided suggestions based on their experience and knowledge of the country.

The Supervisor, Ambassador Bill Farrand, has been working since March to develop a coordinated strategy for the implementation of the Award.

Principal Deputy High Representative Ralph Johnson and Supervisor Bill Farrand will host a special press conference at 1100 at the CIPIC tomorrow, 19 August.