YouSaid · the spoken record

Ashdown

lines on the record: 276
first: 2002-10-23
most recent: 2005-11-15
sittings or episodes: 7
sources: un-security-council

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“But the fact that we have laid the groundwork and started the process is entirely beneficial. Secondly - and this point was made by you, Mr. President - this can be done only by the local domestic authorities. The international community can have a role to facilitate, to assist and to enable. But in the end, the only way to achieve the new status, the new structures for Bosnia and Herzegovina, is by consensus - by agreement between the peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I am sure that they will do it, but it is going to take patience.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“Finally, if I may, the representative of the United States mentioned the importance of constitutional reform. Again, I entirely agree that increasing the functional efficiency of the Bosnia and Herzegovina State is now crucial. It seems to me that there are two important points to be made. The first is that this is a process, not an event. It will take time. I am glad to see that, because of the engagement of the United States and the European Union, that process has begun in the past couple of weeks and will continue next week in Washington, DC. The fact that progress has not been large does not matter. The process is under way, and that is extremely important. I anticipate that major progress on that front will not occur until after the October 2006 elections.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“Almost no issue that I or my colleagues in Bosnia and Herzegovina deal with in that country today is not more easily dealt with on a regional basis than it is within the borders of the individual countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and so on. The regional element is crucial to our future success. As to my next point, if I may, the representative of Algeria mentioned the fact that economic improvement is occurring, but has not yet touched ordinary peoples' lives. That is correct. Bosnia and Herzegovina now has the fastest growing economy in the Western Balkans - from a very low base - but it is not yet growing fast enough either to be sustainable or to touch on people's lives. We have to continue to push that forward - a key task for my successor.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“Let me remind Council members that the Office of the High Representative has, in the last three years, halved its size and halved its budget. That is an example of how we are now progressively moving what we do in the Office of the High Representative over to the Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities. That must continue. I wish to make three final points, if I may. I agree so much with the representative of Romania, who said that the regional aspect here is critical. If I have a criticism of the international community's approach to the Western Balkans, it is that we have a series of policies for individual countries there, but we do not have a regional policy.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“Indeed, in terms of the use of the Bonn Powers, as the representative of Brazil rightly said, we have been using those decreasingly over the last three and a half years and will continue to do so. In my first year, I used the Bonn Powers 70 times to impose laws - 36 fewer than my predecessor. In my second year, I used them 30 times; last year, three times; this year, once; next year, I hope, none. Members will see that there has been a very significant decline in the use of the Bonn Powers, and that must continue, as the representative of Italy has just said. It is very important that we continue to progress towards a progressive handover of the authority and power of the High Representative in a sensible, timely and considered fashion to the Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“Let me reassure the Council that we long ago abandoned what was referred to as the "commanding approach". As the representative of Denmark quite rightly identified, there has been a gradual and persistent transfer, certainly over the last three years, to Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities. Refugee return, arguably the biggest and most difficult and sensitive issue we deal with, was long ago handed over to the Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities. None of the key commanding reforms that were referred to by my colleague the Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina - defence reform, the Indirect Tax Authority reform, value added tax reform, judicial reform, police reform - were done by the commanding approach. All of them were done by agreement between the parliaments. None of them has been imposed.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“However - and again, I would like to agree with a point made by you, Sir - it is very important that the wider international, non-European Union coalition that has been so significant in bringing Bosnia and Herzegovina so far remain in place. The European Union may provide the scaffolding, but it is very important that the Peace Implementation Council continue to play its crucial role as the wheelhouse that steers the international engagement in Bosnia and Herzegovina, because it is only through the Peace Implementation Council that non-European Union nations that have contributed so much can continue to play their part. An essential part of that - and again, this was picked up in a number of contributions today - is the progressive handover to Bosnia and Herzegovina's politicians.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“I am confident that that journey will be completed, but it is far too early for the international community to say that the job is done and we can leave. However - and here, I think, is the important point - increasingly, as has been reflected in comments around the table, the new framework for the second phase of that journey to transition will be the framework of the European Union. That is not to say that we abandon Dayton; we certainly do not. It is the foundations of our peace and we cannot abandon it, except, as you rightly said yourself, Sir, by consensus agreement between the three peoples. That is the only way to do it. It cannot be imposed, but the European Union is now increasingly the scaffolding within which Bosnia and Herzegovina will make the second phase of its journey.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“I am grateful also for the general support which has been expressed around the Council, and, ifI may say so, especially for the commitment made by so many nations to continue to keep their engagement in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It will be needed. As the representative of France rightly pointed out, my colleague the Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina and I may be giving an optimistic report, but it may also be true that the worst of this journey i the journey from blood and conflict - is behind us. Nevertheless, the representative of France is correct - Bosnia and Herzegovina has a long, long way to go in completing its journey to full, sovereign, democratic statehood as a member of the European Union. It will need the Council's engagement, commitment and constant attention.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“Lord Ashdown: Before I came to this job, I was a member of the British Parliament, and when I was first elected I was given one piece of advice by my rather elderly and distinguished predecessor, who said to me: "My boy, I give you one piece of advice never stand long between an audience and its meal." I am rather conscious that I am standing between members and their meals, and that is a dangerous position to be in. I would like, if I may, to start off by thanking very warmly all those who used such generous words in their contributions. I am most grateful to them. It has been a privilege indeed to serve this Council, the international community at large and, indeed, the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“I shall watch developments with interest and, I confess, with love for a country to which I have grown deeply attached, and which, I am absolutely certain, will one day be a member of the family of European Union nations and regarded as one of its little jewels.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“Bosnia and Herzegovina will continue to demand a unique approach from the international community - an approach that combines the prospect of European Union accession with an energetic, proactive and comprehensive engagement. We will continue to need to offer bespoke solutions for the very complex challenges that this country continues to pose. And we will need to pull all those elements together as a determined team. I do not want in any way to underestimate how far there is to go. But Bosnia has already come through the most difficult part of its long journey. In the end, how those challenges are going to be resolved will not be up to the international community. But it will be up to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“Thirteen years ago, I stood on the tarmac of the Sarajevo airfield, then held by the United Nations, watching a murderous artillery duel take place over our heads, smashing into the beauty of Sarajevo and the wonderful valley in which it sits. My relationship with Bosnia and Herzegovina started on that hot August day. That relationship has taken me on a long, long journey, one that eventually led me to my past three and a half years as High Representative. I feel deeply honoured to have had the privilege to work with the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina in helping to rebuild their country and putting Bosnia firmly on the path to Euro-Atlantic integration.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“When the process was concluded at the end of 2004, regrettably no provision was made for reviewing problematic decisions where credible evidence exists that the right procedures were not followed. The Venice Commission very recently commented on that and called for a review process to be established. I agree with it. A review mechanism would consolidate the certification process by overturning or confirming decisions that currently raise questions about the process as a whole. I hope that you will forgive me, Mr. President, for offering a few final reflections as I prepare to depart my role as High Representative.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“There is also - and I regret to have to raise this again - the outstanding issue of police decertification, which we have discussed on many previous occasions when I have reported to the Council. I understand that the Council may give consideration to setting up a review of the police certification process conducted by the United Nations International Police Task Force (IPTF). I encourage the Council, as I have over the past two years, to do that without delay. The certification of police officers by the IPTF was an ambitious and largely successful attempt to rehabilitate the ranks of police officers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, many of whom had been compromised by involvement in criminal activities during and after the war.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“That demonstrates just how far the security institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina have come and how much Bosnia and Herzegovina is taking its international responsibilities seriously, as well as the necessity to continue to keep vigilant on this front. With increasing numbers of criminals being brought to justice, and some war crimes cases now being transferred from The Hague to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, that country is faced with the problem that there is simply no prison in which to incarcerate those who are convicted. There will be a donors conference in February, and I hope that that will take a step towards rectifying that problem.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“It still needs the European Union force (EUFOR), which, since its deployment at the beginning of 2005, has established itself as an efficient and credible force. There remain major outstanding challenges that require continued engagement, commitment and allocation of resources by the international community. A good example of that continuing need for resources can be found in the judicial and penal system. The rehabilitation of the police forces and judiciary is now genuinely beginning to pay dividends. I should remind the Council that just two weeks ago, the Bosnia and Herzegovina security institutions successfully mounted a very delicate and difficult operation against potential suicide bombers transiting through Bosnia.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“But the Bonn Powers - let us recognize it - have also created a dangerous dependency, both in the Bosnia and Herzegovina political establishment and, to be very blunt, in the international community, too. It is time to wean Bosnia - and ourselves - off them by a progressive process that hands democratic power over to democratic sovereign institutions and provides the space for proper political opposition and a strong civil society to grow. That does not mean that the international community or the Peace Implementation Council should disengage. Bosnia and Herzegovina still needs our concerted support, including of the support of the non-European Union countries that have helped to steer it over the past 10 years.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“The Peace Implementation Council has, at my recommendation, made it clear that once the stabilization and association negotiations are under way, it is ready to begin phasing out the use of the Bonn Powers and replacing the Office of the High Representative with a structure led by the European Union Special Representative. That transition could begin before the end of this year and might be completed, if all goes well, by the time Bosnia and Herzegovina goes to the polls in October 2006. I believe that the Bonn Powers have worked. They have worked in levering the country forward to this point, doing so at reasonable pace, consistent with the reform process and what the system will bear.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“It is important here, however, to underline that this cannot be imposed by the international community; it cannot be imposed by one people over the other two; it cannot be imposed by two over the third. It has to be reached through the domestic institutions and through a process of consensus. But if constitutional change is now possible and necessary for Bosnia and Herzegovina, then so is a fundamental change in the role of the international community itself. The signing of the stabilization and association agreement should, I believe, herald the end of heavyweight international intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is time for the international community to take a step back. Our posture should turn from one of pushing reform to one of supporting and enabling it.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“Dayton did not fail; it has succeeded. It now needs, in my view, to be adapted in order to reflect the extent of Bosnia and Herzegovina's progress towards a normal and prosperous European future. Dayton will remain our foundation, but we need to think beyond Dayton to what happens next. This is not a question just of Euro-Atlantic integration. The people of Bosnia and Herzegovina are entitled to demand a Government that is accountable and efficient, and no State can win the loyalty of its citizens when it spends 70 per cent of their taxes on Government and only 30 per cent on the citizens' services. Constitutional change is now possible and necessary, in my View, and that is the next phase that we must now enter.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“There is, I think, now a growing consensus that the Dayton construct in its present form, while remaining essential as a foundation for peace, has nevertheless reached the end of its utility as a framework for the next phase of the reform process. Bosnia and Herzegovina needs now to consider the post-Dayton era and to find a new template, within the European stability and association process, to move forward in the next phase. I subscribe to that general View. Dayton achieved what it was designed to achieve, and it is remarkable how successful it was. It ended the war and it established a framework in which post-war recovery could begin. Those are significant, perhaps even remarkable achievements for an agreement which, I think, was universally predicted to fail in the months after it was first drawn up.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“Bosnia and Herzegovina is, I think, now moving decisively from the phase of peace implementation to the marathon task of establishing good governance and the achievement of European standards on the way to full European membership. That is something that the international community cannot do for Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is not our job. Our job is to enable - to create viable institutions and place them in a coherent legislative and practical framework, but it is up to the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina to make those institutions work and to expand and strengthen that State framework. In that context, there has been much talk of the relevance of the Dayton Constitution.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“I think I can say that, despite those last, yet-to- be-completed tasks, the process in Mostar and elsewhere has proved that there is far more that unites the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina today than divides them. The opening of stabilization and association negotiations this year will mark a decisive break, I believe, with the past. The key is whether or not the opportunities created by the launch of the stabilization and association process will be seized. In my View, the two key words for the future phase are sustainability and functionality. They are now the watchwords. The last 12 months have demonstrated that there is the political will to meet the requirements of Euro- Atlantic integration, but in many cases, perhaps in most, the really hard part of the reform process - its implementation - is only now beginning.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“A majority of local civil service positions have now been filled under the new, European Union-standard Civil Service Law. Nevertheless, a small but worrying number of the most sensitive issues, such as street names and the ownership of the local Croat television station, have still to be resolved. They must be resolved, and soon. It would be a blot on Mostar's progress towards unity if its politicians were unable to resolve those issues. So, there is more work still to be done, and I regret to have to report to the Council that hardliners in Mostar continue to try to disrupt the process by continuing to place the interests of ethnic division above the interests of Mostar and its long-suffering citizens. Nevertheless, considerable progress has been made.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“Bosnia and Herzegovina's future can be built only on justice, on truth, on accountability and, ultimately, on reconciliation, and that cannot happen until Karadzic and Mladic are where they should be - facing the charges laid against them before The Hague Tribunal. Other small steps have been taken, and some not so small. One, for instance, is in the case of Mostar. This time last year, I reported on the reopening of the Mostar bridge, a powerful symbol of reconciliation. At the end of this month, the Office of the High Representative's unit dedicated to supporting the reintegration of Mostar will be closed, having successfully completed its work. Most of Mostar's municipal institutions have now been unified or are in the process of being unified.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“That is huge step forward, given the fact that, by 1 January, the Republika Srpska authorities had transferred not a single Hague indictee to The Hague for a full nine years. In the intervening months, some 12 have been so transferred. However, another anniversary of the massacre at Srebrenica - the tenth - has now passed without the transfer of the two most wanted on that list: Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. We need to signal, on this tenth anniversary of Dayton, our utter determination to ensure that this chapter of Bosnia and Herzegovina's history is closed. Without the transfer of Karadzic and Mladic, justice will not have been done and the Balkans will not be able to enter fully this new, European phase of its history.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“The aspiration of European Union membership has been a powerful draw, but it has taken consistent and united pressure from the international community over the last 10 years, together with leadership from Bosnia and Herzegovina's political bodies, to bring Bosnia and Herzegovina finally to the gates of the European Union and NATO membership through the Partnership for Peace. Nowhere has that been clearer than in the area of ICTY cooperation. When I spoke to the Council in March, I welcomed the progress that had been made on ICTY cooperation. Today, I can welcome even more. Today, only five of the 15 major indictees indicted for war crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina are still at large. The Republika Srpska authorities - and I commend them for it - have transferred or assisted Belgrade in the transfer of 12 indictees this year.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“The entity and State parliaments have, as a result, now endorsed a political agreement on police restructuring in line with the European Commission's three basic principles. Once implemented - and I do not want to underestimate the task of implementation, because that will be difficult too, and it must be fully implemented - that agreement will provide the basis for a modern and effective State-level police force, free from political interference and working without the constraints of ethnic boundaries. I will not pretend that it has been easy to get where we are today.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“The European Union, backed by the international community - and if I may, I should like to pay a special tribute to the work of the United States here - made it very clear that the remaining conditions for Bosnia and Herzegovina to begin the stabilization talks were non-negotiable and not about to change. They included police reform. The breakthrough on police reform that came in October occurred, in my View, because the international community held to a solid and united position, and Bosnia and Herzegovina's leaders grasped the meaning of that and were not prepared to risk isolation and exclusion from the European process. Bluntly put, when they realized that we were serious, they got serious.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“Let me pay tribute to Nikola Radovanovic', Minister for Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who has been a major contributor to that process. He has fulfilled his duties with remarkable skill and is, I believe, one of the most capable of the ministers new emerging from Bosnia and Herzegovina's political strata. But whereas the armed forces are essentially once removed from popular perceptions of day-to-day security, the police, on the other hand, are viewed by many as the day-to-day protectors of the local community. Whether you trust the police or not will determine where and in which community you are prepared to live. That is an issue that, apart from anything else, has a direct bearing on refugee returns and on reconciliation. Police reform was therefore always going to be much more sensitive and much more difficult.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“Thanks to a combination of some enlightened local leadership - perhaps especially in the Republika Srpska - and consistent pressure from the international community, the major obstacles to Euro- Atlantic integration have now been overcome. Frankly, defence reform has succeeded beyond all our expectations. A consensus has been built, and maintained, that has enabled the transfer of all defence responsibilities and personnel to the State, as well as the abolition of conscription and the establishment of a small reserve force to back up the downsized professional army. The three former armies of Bosnia and Herzegovina are therefore now on the way to being melded into a single, NATO-compatible military force of some 12,000 members under, as it happens, one Bosnian Serb defence minister.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“Thus, when Serbia and Montenegro met the conditions of the European Union's feasibility study on 5 October, Bosnia and Herzegovina became the only country in the Balkans that had no contractual relationship with the European Union. The last time I addressed the Council I said that seasoned observers had a right to be sceptical about the prospects for a change of heart on the part of the Republika Srpska leadership. Well, scepticism is always the safe default position in the Balkans. But perhaps scepticism about the prospects of success was particularly appropriate in June of this year. But I am happy to report to the Council that that blockage has now been removed: we have now moved decisively into more promising territory.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“Carla Del Ponte, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) had highlighted the need to tackle systemic weaknesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina's security institutions. Although defence reform proceeded, despite repeated efforts by the international community and the Council of Ministers to find a way around the impasse, the Republika Srpska still refused to agree to push forward with police restructuring. Most important, at that date, the failure to agree to police reform and the blockage by the Croat National Union (HDZ) of the passage of the public broadcasting legislation meant that the remaining requirements for Bosnia and Herzegovina to begin stabilization and association negotiations with the European Union remained unfulfilled at that point.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“But I want to stress that I think that has been utterly dependent not just on the international community's efforts but also on the unbelievable fortitude, hard work and good sense of the ordinary people of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are the true heroes of that transformation. At the start of 2005 Bosnia and Herzegovina stood at a crossroads. For much of the year it was, frankly, unclear and uncertain which direction the country would take. In June progress appeared, to put it bluntly, to have stalled. Obstructionism - particularly, but not exclusively, from the Republika Srpska Government - was rife. Most key State-level reforms appeared at that stage to be blocked.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“Ten years after Bosnia and Herzegovina's brutal war, the country has acquired the framework - and I would underscore that it is a framework, and not yet the substance - of a modern European State. I think that the scale of that achievement can be judged if we cast our minds back to Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 years ago, in 1995, with a people traumatized by mass murder and ethnic cleansing, contending with the material deprivation wrought by a collapsed infrastructure and burdened with a completely moribund economy. I therefore think that in that period- measured against other peace stabilization missions - progress has been real, substantial and, in some cases, even miraculous.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“I believe that that is truly a remarkable achievement for a country as war-torn as Bosnia and Herzegovina was just 10 years ago. As you have pointed out, Mr. President, this is my last report to the Security Council as High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition to updating the Council on the highlights of the reporting period, I hope the Council will not think it an abuse of this opportunity if I were to share my impressions about how far Bosnia and Herzegovina has come in the last three years and, above all, in the last 10. May I first take this opportunity to thank the Secretary-General personally and the Security Council for the enormous support that I have received during the three and a half years of my mandate.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“European Union foreign ministers announced on 8 November that they welcomed the recommendation from the European Commission to start drawing up a negotiating mandate for Bosnia and Herzegovina's stabilization and association agreement. What that means is that, if all goes according to plan, the stabilization and association process negotiations will be approved at the 21 November meeting of the General Affairs and External Relations Council in Brussels, precisely a full 10 years after the Dayton- Paris Agreements were signed. The Council may consider that to be a fitting anniversary present. When that happens Bosnia and Herzegovina will join the rest of the region on the journey towards accession to the European Union.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“That period was decisive and the country has now moved a step forward towards the next phase of its development. The Council has before it our detailed report on developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina (S/2005/706, annex). However, things have moved on considerably since that report was submitted. There is a huge difference between where Bosnia and Herzegovina stood in June and where it now stands, just a week away from the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords. Bosnia and Herzegovina has done what many said was impossible even a year ago, let alone at the start of my mandate, in May 2002 - or even further away, on the date that the Dayton Peace Agreements were signed. The country now stands at the gates that lead to the long path towards membership in the European Union.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“Lord Ashdown: I thank you, Mr. President, for your kind words. As you have pointed out, Sir, my report has been submitted to the Security Council. I shall therefore endeavour to simply add supplementary comments in the briefing I am about to give. Seven months ago, when I last spoke to the Council (see S/PV.5147), I said that I believed that the following period - namely, the period immediately after that report - would be decisive. Would the political leadership of Bosnia and Herzegovina seize the opportunity to show that the country had become a viable State that was irreversibly on course to European and Euro-Atlantic integration, or would it lose that opportunity? Some six or seven months later, the answer is clear: they did not reject that opportunity; they took it.”
2005-11-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5306 (2005) · source
“I am sorry indeed to have to end this very optimistic report on such a difficult note, but I felt it was important that the Council should understand some of the facts behind that particular intervention.”
2005-03-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5147 (2005) · source
“What I know for certain is that those comments will have a major place in tomorrow's press in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I am bound to say that to make comments in these circumstances in the Council - with a direct connection with someone who is now being indicted by that Court - criticizing the Court's actions is not a wise action for a Minister of Security. It will damage Bosnia and Herzegovina's international reputation as being attached to the principle that politicians do not interfere in the actions of the courts and will be unhelpful to the independence of the judiciary, which Minister Colak himself has identified as a basic principle to be observed.”
2005-03-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5147 (2005) · source
“International judges are not in Bosnia and Herzegovina assisting the work of Bosnia and Herzegovina's courts at our request; they are there at the request of the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina - indeed, if I may say so, at the specific request of the Government of which Minister Colak is a part. But lastly - and it pains me even more to have to identify this - at the same time as Minister Colak is criticizing that Court, his own friend and member of the party of which he is President - the Croat elected President of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina - is now indicted before that Court for charges of high-level corruption, of bribery and of organized crime. Now I leave it to members of the Council to make their own decision as to whether or not it is appropriate to bring that matter to the Council under these circumstances.”
2005-03-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5147 (2005) · source
“That is the body that governs the actions of the Courts, and, if there are criticisms to be made, then that is the body that makes those criticisms. It is a domestic institution, it is a standalone institution, and it pains me indeed to have to report to the Council that Mr. Colak has brought his criticisms of the Court here without first of all even taking the trouble to identify those criticisms to the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Secondly, as the representative of the United Kingdom has clearly pointed out, Minister Colak believed it right to criticize the number and actions of the international judges in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
2005-03-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5147 (2005) · source
“In that respect, I think the real heroes are not the international community but the ordinary citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and I am grateful indeed that that has been recognized. But, like the representative of Great Britain, I have to express my surprise at the comments made by Minister Colak on the issue of the judges. Those comments cannot but undermine trust in the independence of the judiciary in Bosnia and Herzegovina. There is a basic principle established in the European Union and in most democracies that politicians do not interfere in the judiciary. When a Minister of Security does that, I think that is rather a serious matter. We have an independent body in Bosnia and Herzegovina - the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council - independent of politicians, independent of the High Representative.”
2005-03-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5147 (2005) · source
“In this case, let me agree wholeheartedly with the representative of the United States. We are involved in a process now. That process may have begun, but it will not be over until Karadzic and Mladic are in The Hague. It is extremely important that Republika Srpska and Serbia and Montenegro realize that we are not going to be bought off by any lesser price than the completion of that task, which includes ensuring that the most senior war criminals - above all, Karadzic and Mladic - are where they should be - answering for their crimes at The Hague Tribunal. Oh dear - I fear I must end on a rather sour note. I am sad to do so, because the comments made in the Council Chamber have been extremely encouraging for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and I think Bosnia and Herzegovina has made real, indeed remarkable progress.”
2005-03-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5147 (2005) · source
“The representative of Japan was right to identify the need for economic reform, a factor also touched on by other speakers. This has to be driven forward; we are moving out of the era of aid for Bosnia and Herzegovina and into the era of attracting international investment. That means continuing the process of economic reform. I am grateful to the representative of France for his comments about the fact that pressure on the ICTY issues has delivered dividends. My view is that we should now be prepared to modify that, in the light of the kind of successes I touched on earlier. But it seems to me that keeping in reserve the option of sanctions until this process is completed is an important part of Bosnia and Herzegovina's and the international community's strategy for the future.”
2005-03-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5147 (2005) · source
“It has declined, and I anticipate that it will continue to decline. Here are some figures and terms of the use of the Bonn powers for the imposition of laws. In my first year I used the Bonn powers some 70 times, including 36 occasions left behind by my predecessor. In my second year, I used them less than 30 times; last year, twice; and this year, so far, once. I hope to be able to get to the end of the year without using the Bonn powers any further for the imposition of laws. This has to continue to decline in that fashion. At this point, may I pay special tribute to Japan for the unwavering support that it has given; it is arguably the nation that is most closely engaged but that has least territorial or geographical interest in the Balkans, and yet its support over these nine years has been unwavering and immensely helpful.”
2005-03-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5147 (2005) · source
“First of all, the representative of Denmark mentioned the Bonn powers and the necessity to consider their further use or the further erosion of their use in a measured way. I absolutely agree with that. I would want to draw the Council's attention to the fact that when the stabilization and association agreement is in place, about 90 per cent of the territory across which the High Representative uses the Bonn powers will be interdit. We will not be able to use the Bonn powers across this territory, because it is a territory in which Bosnia and Herzegovina must negotiate with the European Union (EU) as a sovereign State. So, in any case, the Bonn powers are going to be very significantly reduced once that threshold is passed. The representative of the Russian Federation called for a decline in the use of the Bonn powers. I agree with that.”
2005-03-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5147 (2005) · source
“Of course, this is a matter of conjecture, but the Council would not, I think, have a clear picture if they did not also recognize that there are, some argue, 25,000 Serbs in Banja Luka, driven out of Croatia by Operation Storm, who have not yet been able to return to their homes in Croatia. We have to look at this not just from one side, and we have to recognize that this is a regional problem. Of all the regional countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina has achieved more than any other of the countries of the Balkans region in refugee return. I am very grateful for the support that has been expressed by other participants. Perhaps I may make just one or two very brief comments, and then I will have to touch on a rather more serious matter. I regret that I may perhaps have to end on a rather sour note.”
2005-03-23 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5147 (2005) · source