Speeches

Bosnia and Herzegovina - six years after Dayton Belgrade, 18 May 2001 Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,   To try and sketch briefly Bosnia and Herzegovina?s place in the complex jigsaw of Balkan security is daunting. It?s a bit like the childhood game of creating a survival kit the size of a matchbox or having to choose only three items you would [...]

Vienna, 14 May 2001 Excellencies; Ladies and Gentlemen; A year ago, I don't think any of us dared imagine that we would be here with the clear intention to move decisively closer to a final settlement of the outstanding issues of SFRY succession. To date, the three main actors in the Bosnian war have left the stage -- through death, an ignominious [...]

Zenica, 8 May 2001 Governor Herceg, Dr Mehmedbasic; Mr Muranovic; Ladies and Gentlemen; It is a very great honor to be presented with this award but in some senses, I feel a bit of a fraud, and I certainly need to clarify who I think is receiving this!

Banja Luka, 04 May 2001 Prime Minister Ivanic; Ambassador Eliason; Ladies and Gentlemen; Today's railway conference gives me an excellent opportunity to underline my number one priority in Bosnia and Herzegovina: economic reform. It is the country's railways that go to the very heart of the problems we face in trying to bring Bosnia and Herzegovina [...]

New York, 22 March 2001 Honorable President, Members of the Security Council, I speak to you at a testing time for the hard won peace in the Balkans. The smoke over mountain villages and the angry crackle of gunfire have come back to haunt us in Macedonia and Serbia.

Brussels, 19 March 2001 I address you at a time when the Balkans is back in the headlines and once again ­ all for the wrong reasons. From the outside, it all looks frighteningly messy and horribly complex. Let me assure you that in Bosnia and Herzegovina, thanks to our joint strategic and systematic approach, and despite the occasional undesirable [...]

NATO Headquarters, Brussels, 19 March 2001 I speak to you at a critical time for the Alliance. European and North American leaders face the specter of war in Macedonia. After 10 years, after all our efforts, all our warnings, there is a horrible sense of déjr vu. Another horrific round of brutal ethnic cleansing and massed movements of desperate re [...]

Brcko, 08 March 2001 Mayor Kisic; President Djapo; Ambassador Matthews; Ladies and Gentlemen; The Brcko District's first year has flown by and you have passed many testing times with flying colours. It is a very great pleasure to be here today to congratulate all of you on your dedication and pioneering work in creating what I personally hope is th [...]

Brussels, 22 January 2001 Ladies and Gentlemen, good afternoon! There is a wide perception ­ and relief - that the various Balkan crises are over. The television crews are leaving Belgrade. You can withdraw cash from bank machines on a Sarajevo street.

Brussels, 15 December 2000 Mister President, Secretary General, Excellencies, It is a great honor and a timely opportunity for me to address you this morning – five years and one day after the Dayton Accords, ending the war in BiH, were signed in Paris. There is a quickening of the tempo of affairs in Bosnia which we must respond to together [...]