OHR related Articles

Come October, the very same politicians who have been heaping abuse on and provoking one another in recent weeks will be desperately seeking to build coalitions with each other to form new governments, sharing out the power that citizens have entrusted to them. Yet the more abusive the campaign rhetoric now, the more difficult it will be to find th [...]

I gave up my political career in Germany because I believed that working for justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina was more important than anything I could achieve at home. I still believe this and will do my utmost both as High Representative and European Union Special Representative to work for this cause because justice is critical to the future of [...]

Scenes of devastation and despair have become a staple of the evening news this summer. Conflicts in various parts of the world, and notably, of course, in Lebanon, have challenged the diplomatic and humanitarian resources of the international community.

Too many people in Bosnia and Herzegovina live in fear that they or their families will be attacked, that their homes will be burgled or that their cars will be stolen. The sooner police reform is agreed and implemented, the sooner the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina can tackle crime effectively.

On 23 June, the international community announced that in the middle of 2007 it will end its direct supervision of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s post-war recovery, nearly 12 years after the Dayton Peace Agreement brought the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina to a close.

The decision of the Peace Implementation Council, which represents 55 governments and agencies engaged in supporting Bosnia and Herzegovina 's post-war recovery, to close the Office of the High Representative, OHR, by next June, has provoked alarm in some quarters and euphoria in others. Both reactions are wrong and indicate a lack of understanding [...]

There are signs at last that the BiH economy is on an upward trajectory. Investment and tax revenue are rising; interest rates are falling; more jobs are being created; Moody’s has raised BiH’s external debt rating. None of this is happening fast enough, but the fact that it is happening at all shows that after years of frustrating stop-start devel [...]

The BiH pharmaceutical market is fragmented. The Federation and the RS have different laws and rules governing the manufacture and wholesale of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, while Brcko District has none. This means that safeguards related to the pharmaceuticals market in BiH are inadequate.

This month I led a delegation of entrepreneurs from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to the CEBIT technology fair in Hannover. When I was Minister for Posts and Telecommunications in Germany in the 1980s I was one of the founders of CEBIT, now the largest information technology fair in the world. So I was keen to use my good offices in Hannover to intr [...]

It’s the time of year to clear away the cobwebs, open the windows, let in the fresh air and engage in some vigorous housecleaning. This might usefully be applied to politics as well as to the home.