Speeches

I am delighted to be able to speak to Parliament once again this morning, and to take your questions. You have invited me to discuss the Venice Commission’s report with which I substantially agree - it is a heavy weight report and I agree with its conclusions - as well as the Foreign Affairs Committee’s conclusions on this important document. [...]

Two important things are being recognized today and each one in its distinct way has a direct and profound bearing on the future of this community and of this country. We are here to mark the opening of an enterprise that will create jobs for the people of all ethnicities in Bratunac and Srebrenica and the surrounding area. That’s the first thing [...]

I’m accustomed to speaking in public about Bosnia and Herzegovina’s efforts to move forward with the European integration process while developing the institutions that will allow it to function as a modern state and interact productively with other modern states. Today, I am in distinguished company: Osman Topcagic and Jakob Finci are key figures [...]

I think perhaps the most surprising thing about peace implementation is that we are surprised by how difficult it often is. In the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina – and indeed in the case of a substantial number of other countries around the globe – the International Community, working with domestic partners, is engaged in root and branch rehabil [...]

The banking sector has gone from strength to strength in the last three years – and the impact of this is being felt well beyond today’s gathering. A vibrant banking sector is the sine qua non of a sustained economic recovery. You are beginning to do what BiH business needs you to do – finance growth. Interest rates are falling – a reflection of Bi [...]

I believe it’s fair to say that the logic of the Single Economic Space is already well understood and accepted by policymakers and citizens. The case no longer has to be made in the abstract. We have roughly four million consumers, which is a small market: we can’t afford to make it smaller. There are economies of scale at every level – for comp [...]

The BiH officers in this room are at the cutting edge of a transformation that will affect this country well beyond the immediate confines of its military establishment. You are a distinctive element in a process that can take Bosnia and Herzegovina to a better place. That process is now moving forward – faster and more decisively than either its [...]

I would like to thank Speaker Stojicic for responding so positively to my request to address the RSNA. In this speech I want to tell you where we are, what we have to do, and why we have to do it. First, where is BiH and the RS today?

Mr. Prime Minister, distinguished Mayors and dear guests, it is a pleasure to welcome you to Brcko District on the occasion of the Second Conference of Mayors and Civil Society in BiH. This Conference is particularly timely as Brcko reaches out, builds relationships within BiH, and beyond, and seeks to contribute to and learn from others as the pr [...]

When the core institutions that are needed in order to sustain a prosperous democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina are operational, the IC’s high-profile postwar role here will come to an end. The relationship between BiH and its international partners will be normalised. We are getting there, and because we are within sight of the orderly and timely [...]