Speeches

I have been happy to support this conference because, like similar events organised by cities and regions throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, it deals directly with the most pressing issue facing this country today, that is how to create jobs and raise living standards.

Thank you for your invitation to address you today – and the provocative title of your conference! I also have to say I’m glad you put it as question and not a statement of fact!

First let me thank the organizers of this event for the invitation and also I would like to confirm the importance of the European integrations for this country. I’m not going to talk to you today about the benefits that EU accession brings. You are all well aware of that.

Thank you for asking me to join you this afternoon. I particularly wanted to take part in this forum because the event is structured as a dialogue. I am not here to speak and then leave; I am here to speak and then listen.

It was the Nobel Peace Prize-winner from Northern Ireland, John Hume, who described the European Union as “the best example in the history of the world of conflict resolution.” He was referring to the way in which the EU had brought together former antagonists after the Second World War and then, in later years, how EU integration helped to recon [...]

I am very pleased to be here today. The fact that we have not had very much good news to celebrate in Bosnia and Herzegovina of late means that this first meeting of the newly established Conference of Education Ministers is a particularly noteworthy. It is an opportunity to register real progress in education, a sphere that is very important for [...]

I assume you are all familiar with the conclusions by the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council that met end of February in Brussels.

I have invited you here today because Bosnia and Herzegovina’s European future is not just a project between the political elite and European Union. This is an issue that rquires involvement and full support from all sectors of the society.

Let me express my gratitude to the Central Election Commission for its initiative to organize today’s event and for inviting me to address the audience. The Central Election Commission is a success story of the election administration in BiH and the country can be proud of having such a body on the occasion of the international Election Day.

This dialogue between parliamentarians from the European Union and from Bosnia and Herzegovina could hardly take place at a more crucial moment. Bosnia and Herzegovina is poised to take its most significant step yet towards deeper integration with the EU.