Speeches

I want to thank my host, the National Democratic Institute, and the participants of this year’s School for the Development of Democratic Leadership for inviting me to speak this evening. NDI has asked me to touch upon three important themes this evening

First, I would like to thank the organisers, Wilton Park, who have, together with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development of the United Kingdom and the Communications Regulatory Agency here in BiH, made this event possible. The subject is important and its consideration over the next two days by experts [...]

Let me first thank the sponsors of this event, the United Nations and the United Nations development Programme, for the invitation to this important meeting. Sitting right next to the Women of Podrinje, I use this opportunity to express my wholehearted support to the Srebrenica Regional Recovery Programme presented today.

We are here today to discuss the investment climate in Bosnia and Herzegovina and what can be done to improve it. So let’s look candidly at why investors are hesitant about putting their money into the local economy. Some of the reasons are fairly straightforward: the recent war has left a legacy of negative perception - lingering images of violenc [...]

This will be my last address to you as the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. On May 27, I am handing over to my successor and friend, Lord Paddy Ashdown. I am convinced that Paddy will prove to be an excellent choice to carry out this difficult task.

It is my very great pleasure to welcome you here today. The calibre and seniority of the participants at this conference attest to the important recognition among decision-makers in Bosnia and Herzegovina that efficient regulation is a central component of a prosperous market economy. I would like to begin by expressing our sincere thanks to the Sw [...]

Once in a while everyday events highlight much larger issues and bring them into vivid contrast. Today’s opening of the secondary school annex in Zepce does just that for me. For the last nine years the young people of this town have experienced segregated schooling - separate but certainly not equal. They have studied, played, and socialised [...]

In the last six years, Bosnia and Herzegovina has undergone a triple transition - from war to peace, from communism to democracy, from a planned economy to a market economy - and let’s not forget that like many countries, including the other countries of former Yugoslavia, it has had to define itself -- for the first time in its modern histor [...]

When I took up my mandate in Bosnia and Herzegovina in August 1999 Yugoslavia and Croatia were ruled by the same leaders who had brought about the disastrous conflicts of the 1990s. Their proxies still wielded power in BiH. Consequently refugees saw little hope of returning to their homes. Reform was effectively blocked by wartime politicians, who [...]

The Office of the High Representative is working with local and international partners to establish the legal and political framework that Bosnia and Herzegovina needs if it is to achieve economic lift-off. The framework is now partly in place. But there is still a great deal that needs to be done - and time is of the essence! Bosnia and Herzegovin [...]