Continued international commitment to Bosnia and Herzegovina will help to create a country that is stable and safe and able to solve its own problems institutionally, High Representative Valentin Inzko said in London today.
Speaking during a meeting with UK Minister for Europe David Lidington, the High Representative said that a united International Community can help solve Bosnia and Herzegovina’s present political difficulties if it continues actively to support constructive alternatives to the gridlock and economic decline of recent years.
He said BiH citizens have always shown an ability to build practical consensus that crosses communal divisions and the International Community must show solidarity with the four million people of this country while helping their political leaders to abandon confrontation and embrace compromise.
“The political agreement forged by six party leaders in December 2011 offers hope that the focus of energy can now return to reviving the BiH economy and getting the country back on the road to Europe” the High Representative said. The political parties that received the citizens’ support in the October 2010 elections must show that they can deliver a functioning government; and uphold the Dayton Peace Agreement, the constitution and the rule of law.
The High Representative said the United Kingdom has always been in the forefront of efforts to give effective support to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina and that this assistance is part of a broad-based effort that will succeed in the long run.
To ensure success, he said, the International Community must support BiH institutions so that they can uphold fundamental European principles of freedom, democracy and the rule of law no matter how much the political climate may change.