Speeches

Thank you. When I was reviewing the program for this Symposium I was struck by the urgency of the theme – “Accounting and Auditing in a Crisis Environment”. But I was also encouraged by the recognition that this is an environment that requires serious and vigorous change. Your organization is only one among many that have in recent months underta [...]

We are here to pay tribute to twelve men and women – five of them from the Office which I am now privileged to lead - who gave their lives in the service of peace in this country. This ceremony has become – rightly – an annual occasion. Each year, we journey to this remote and timeless spot to remember our colleagues.

Thank you for inviting me, once again. Ahead, you face some truly momentous decisions about the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina. And these will be the subjects of my speech today. But first, let’s take stock of where we are. Steady Progress This year we have made some real progress. Sometimes, amid the sound and the fury of day-to-day polit [...]

I am delighted to have been asked to participate at this conference. I am an economist; the focus of the conference is security – and the point that I wish to make this morning is that you can’t have security if you don’t have economic stability. Economics and security are inextricably bound up.

Let me add my words of congratulation to the Greek Presidency for this summit. This has been a good discussion. It has underlined three things very clearly. First, the European Union wants the Western Balkans countries to join – ‘no ifs, no buts’, as Romano Prodi put it. Second, that you must first meet the same standards and values that make [...]

Last week, my wife Jane and I spent a night with a displaced Bosnian family in their home near Visegrad. It’s a breathtakingly beautiful spot, high in the mountains, with the Drina river tumbling through the valley a couple of thousand feet below. Together with our hosts for the night – the Setkic family - we sat sipping tea, watching the sun go [...]

Let me begin by thanking the UNDP and our friend Moises (Venancio- UNDP Resident Representative) for organising this event. The UNDP has formidable experience in governance reform. You see it done best – and worst, all over the world. Here in BiH, you are certainly approaching the subject of governance reform from the right perspective – from tha [...]

The connection between economic theory and practice is a crucial issue, at the heart of the present effort to create a self-sustaining market democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The good news is that today the proportion of good ideas being transformed into sound and useful legislation is increasing substantially. This is because governments are [...]

A year ago today, I had the honour and privilege of taking up the position of High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. We’ve achieved a lot in the last year; but there’s a great deal more to do. I said, when I began this job, that my priorities would be justice and jobs.

We are here today to inaugurate a BiH project that is a positive model of how companies in this country can expand successfully – and create new jobs and raise living standards. This information pillar is a small steel computer platform with dedicated software – but it is much much more than the sum of its parts. For one thing, it represents cons [...]