Speeches

Half a century ago the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, summed up the zeitgeist of the post-colonial world when he told skeptical members of parliament in Cape Town that “a wind of change” was blowing across the African continent.

The issue facing Bosnia and Herzegovina between now and 3 October is whether the election can put an end to the dysfunction and stalemate of the last few years and get the country back on the high road to stability, prosperity and Euro-Atlantic integration.

Many of you have travelled from across the Herzegovina region and even further afield to be with us today, to mark the closure of the OHR South Office in Mostar.

Today we mark the 10th anniversary of the BiH Border Police. It is also the second anniversary of the start of negotiations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Union to eliminate the visa requirement for BiH citizens travelling to the EU.

These days are special days for Bosnia and Herzegovina, as it is celebrating 18 years of its admission to the United Nations. But they are also special for my home country Austria as it was presiding the Security Council in the month of May, exactly 18 years ago.

Let me first of all express my thanks to the organisers, the EU Institute for Security Studies, for bringing together such an impressive body of expertise form the Western Balkans, the European Union and a range of NGOs.

Corruption is a massive obstacle on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s road to stability, prosperity and full integration in the European Union. If participants at today’s conference can make practical recommendations on how to eliminate this obstacle you will be doing a great service to the people of this country.

First of all let me say what a pleasure it is to be here with you on this sunny spring morning in Bihac.

The organisers of this conference have brought together a remarkably authoritative and knowledgeable group of policymakers and thinkers, from Austria and the Western Balkans. A formidable intellectual weight is being brought to bear on the topic, and because of this I hope that this gathering will produce useful insights and constructive new thinki [...]

I am particularly pleased to be able to take part in this conference because the topic – constitutional reform – is clearly of paramount importance to the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.