OHR related Interviews

Nationalist parties cannot take Bosnia-Herzegovina into the European Union, says Paddy Ashdown, High Representative of the International Community for Bosnia-Herzegovina. He added that BiH could not join the EU before it got rid of nationalism.

Lord “Paddy” Ashdown has been High Representative of the international community in Bosnia Herzegovina responsible for overseeing the Bosnian peace process since May 2002. He is also Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. A former officer in the Royal Marines and British diplomat, Lord Ashdown made his name in British politics where he [...]

Paddy Ashdown has faced increasing criticism from the media lately. Even Vecernji list criticized him “but this criticism was fair”, the High Representative said. He admitted to making a mistake or two in doing his job, which on those occasions justified the criticism. At the start of the interview, we discussed the make-up of BiH.

Following the summer holidays BiH and its authorities will face a rather hot political autumn season, during which, we can freely say, the future of this country will be decided on. The High Representative in BiH Paddy Ashdown, in his first interview after returning from his summer vacation, says that the months ahead of us will determine to a larg [...]

Deputy High Representative to BiH, Donald Hays, believes that the domestic government should be relying more on domestic forces, and less on the donors’ or other kind of assistance of the international community, so that it would not become totally passive. According to his opinion, the state government has proven to be capable in the aviation and [...]

The Decision of Lord Paddy Ashdown, the High Representative for BiH, taken in early July, to remove ten key officials of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS), and to conditionally exclude from political life an additional 50 members of the same party, was perceived in Republika Srpska not only as an attempt to destroy Karadzic’s former party, but also t [...]

A series of changes in legislation will regulate situation in business operations of electric and telecommunication companies here · Identification of clear responsibility. Representatives of the International Community in BiH launched broad activities to regulate affairs in BiH public companies. Donald Hays, Principal Deputy High Representative, [...]

What I can tell you is that many people from public enterprises now come to me saying that, despite the fact that there have been improvements in comparison to the earlier situation, the rate of revenue collection is still low, there are many problems with regard to public procurement, companies’ business plans still aren’t being defined or develop [...]

BiH is passing from a Dayton to a Brussels era – It can be argued that BiH has achieved considerable progress in implementing Feasibility Study priority reforms, Solana says EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana sends a message to the RS officials that they will become the main obstacle on BiH’s road to Europ [...]

Speaking of the results achieved during the past two years, since taking on the mandate of High Representative, Ashdown said that the foundations had been laid for the establishment of a state according to the European model, one which was on the road to membership of European and Euro-Atlantic institutions.