Press Conferences

Even with the passage of time, it is impossible to comprehend fully the horror of what happened in Srebrenica 11 years ago today. Each time I think of Srebrenica, I have to ask myself what more we could and should have done, and what more I could and should have done, to prevent the slaughter in what was, after all, a UN-declared safe haven. Exactl [...]

The High Representative and EU Special Representative, Christian Schwarz Schilling, today welcomed the fact that the BiH Presidency’s had taken a decision determining the size, structure, and locations of the Armed forces of BiH. Even though, the Presidency failed to complete this task within the timeframe envisaged by the Law on Defence, this deci [...]

One of the great achievements of recent years in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been the introduction of Value Added Tax. Everyone who has worked on this project can be justifiably proud of what has been achieved and nobody more so than Joly Dixon, the Chairman of the Governing Board of the Indirect Taxation Authority.

Thank you for coming here today. We have just had a constructive discussion. We have reviewed progress since our last meeting; we’ve set out future targets; and we’ve discussed recent violent incidents in Mostar.

The High Representative Christian Schwarz-Schilling is concerned by the BiH Presidency’s failure to meet its legally required deadline for approving the proposed decision on the size, structure and stationing of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

OHR is aware of the reports that the Imam of the Babi-Besir Mosque was the subject of an assault yesterday morning. OHR condemns all acts of violence and we look to the competent law enforcement agencies to act to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice.

The High Representative and EU Special Representative, Christian Schwarz-Schilling, addressed the Political and Security Committee (PSC) of the European Council in Brussels today, together with General Vicenzo Coppola, the head of the EU Police Mission.

Good afternoon. Thank you all for coming, on what is an important day for Bosnia and Herzegovina. We have had extremely constructive talks during the past two days, both here at the Office of the High Representative and in the Parliament building.

The deadline given by the High Representative Christian Schwarz-Schilling to the Mostar authorities to speed up the pace of integration in the city, passed yesterday. In his letter to Mostar political leaders sent late last week, the High Representative has expressed his concern about the current political stalemate, and has asked them to intensify [...]

BiH politicians have to stop living in a separate world where the rules of arithmetic apparently do not apply, the Principal Deputy High representative, Larry Butler, said today. PDHR Butler was commenting on the decision by the Administrative Commission of the BiH House of Representatives to approve the draft Law on Rights and Duties of MPs