YouSaid · the spoken record

Komšić

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19

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2023-11-02

most recent

2023-11-02

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1

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un-security-council

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1. “Mr. Komšić (Bosnia and Herzegovina): Without going into any detail, I consider it as simply inappropriate for my colleague from Croatia to call the Chairman of the Presidency of my country illegal, illegitimate and everything else he said in his initial and last statement. The meeting rose at 11.50 a.m.”

   2023-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9466 (2023) · source

2. “That is the only way we can make a significant step towards stabilization, both in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the entire region of the Western Balkans, which will enable us to respond to existing geopolitical challenges. Everything else represents a path to possible uncontrolled situations, which would be very difficult to manage and to foresee how badly they could end.”

   2023-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9466 (2023) · source

3. “We are fully aware that the 5+2 conditions are very broad and unclear and that it is difficult to demonstrate their fulfilment statistically, but also that those conditions are very important and ensure that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a normal democratic State that is able to manage all internal processes. For those reasons, I am asking for the support of the international community to finally establish full democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the full rule of law and full protection of individual human and civil rights. On that path, the main priority should be the implementation of all the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.”

   2023-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9466 (2023) · source

4. “These are also not good practices, because they portray the High Representative as a biased person, which, owing to the work he performs, he should never be. Sixthly, I want to express great concern about the efforts of the High Representative to solve the issue of State property, in a controversial way, implying the need to distribute State property. His ideas about State property distribution deviate from good practices in Bosnia and Herzegovina, because property is not territory, or is territory property, so no one has the right to treat it that way. Finally, I would like to point out again that I strongly support the existence of the Office of the High Representative until the so-called 5+2 conditions are met, and I call on the international community to cooperate in the realization of those conditions.”

   2023-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9466 (2023) · source

5. “For this reason, I consider certain comments by some domestic political factors on the Kovačević judgment as completely inappropriate, especially since the efforts of domestic and international political actors are obviously aimed at maintaining the ethnic concept and ethnic divisions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is the same political ambition as that of the neighbouring countries. Fifthly, it is not possible to avoid the fact that the High Representative showed his bias by allowing one political group to form a new Government in Bosnia and Herzegovina, contrary to the election results, by suspending the entity’s Constitution for 24 hours. This was an unprecedented attack on the rule of law in Bosnia and Herzegovina, because the suspension of any constitution cannot have a legitimate goal.”

   2023-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9466 (2023) · source

6. “The second is the Kovačević case, which calls for the protection of active voting rights and the rejection of the ethnic concept in Bosnia and Herzegovina, through the elimination of all those elements that undermine democracy in order to ensure the equality of all citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The judgment of the European Court in the Kovačević case opens up space for the necessary transition towards a normal democratic State, harmonized with European standards and democratic values.”

   2023-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9466 (2023) · source

7. “Whether such a thing is an expression of his political will, clumsiness or ignorance of the events, or whether he is possibly implementing the policies of a part of the international community or a neighbouring country remain open questions. This is especially evident when we look at the extent to which the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights are being avoided, since those judgements set out an obligation to Bosnia and Herzegovina to change the entire political paradigm for its alignment with democratic standards. There are two groups of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. The first is the Sejdić-Finci case and other related cases group, which calls for the protection of passive voting rights.”

   2023-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9466 (2023) · source

8. “Fourthly, I would like to highlight one sentence from the opinion of the European Commission on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s application for membership in the European Union, which states that elections for the House of Peoples based on ethnicity and place of residence is not in accordance with European standards. It was exactly the High Representative who based the elections for the entity House of Peoples on ethnicity and place of residence, giving living human beings an ethnic coefficient or a different mathematical value, which is an expression of extreme discrimination and in complete contradiction to the key priorities that the European Union puts to Bosnia and Herzegovina as an obligation. With this, the High Representative slowed down the progress of Bosnia and Herzegovina towards European integration.”

   2023-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9466 (2023) · source

9. “This can be significant evidence and an indicator of the bias of the High Representative, which then opens up many other questions. One of these questions relates to the fact that the creation of ethnically pure territories in Bosnia and Herzegovina is under the de facto political control of neighbouring countries, which the High Representative did through the imposed model of elections for the Upper House of the legislative body in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity. Such an effort is certainly not good or appropriate practice.”

   2023-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9466 (2023) · source

10. “Such different actions connected with the different treatment of difficulties in the functioning of the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina puts the High Representative in a very compromising position, because it creates a possible sense of political insecurity and bias on his part. Thirdly, we are particularly concerned about the statement of the Prime Minister of a neighbouring country stating that they lobbied the High Representative to impose such changes to the entity Constitution and the election law of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which correspond to the political interests of the neighbouring country, not Bosnia and Herzegovina, and are to the detriment of the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I am of course referring to the Prime Minister and the Government of the neighbouring country of Croatia.”

    2023-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9466 (2023) · source

11. “This is certainly his obligation under annex 10 of the Dayton Peace Agreement. When difficulties arise in the functioning of the State Government, due to the different political interests of two entities, only then can the High Representative appear in his role of mediator. However, the actions of the current High Representative are usually not undertaken within his role of mediator, as required by annex 10 of the Dayton Peace Agreement, but rather are proactive towards one entity, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and reactive towards the Republika Srpska entity.”

    2023-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9466 (2023) · source

12. “His diagnosis of the problem, which concerns the behaviour of actors from the Republika Srpska entity, in which they talk about an alleged peaceful separation, peaceful dissolution or entity competences, is certainly correct, but his diagnosis is not followed by adequate activities. Whether this behaviour of the High Representative is caused by the lack of his capacities or because of the lack of support from the international community is a question that deserves a clear and precise answer. The citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina expect such an answer, especially in the new geopolitical context. I would also like to point out that I will appreciate every effort of the High Representative when blockages arise in the functioning of State institutions, as he tries to solve blockages through his role as a mediator.”

    2023-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9466 (2023) · source

13. “Secondly, there are some decisions of the High Representative which are good and protect the constitutional order in Bosnia and Herzegovina but, unfortunately, those decisions were insufficient and vague. Because of the vagueness of those decisions of the High Representative, political tensions grew, as well as efforts to further ethnically divide Bosnia and Herzegovina until its complete dissolution. It is clear that the High Representative deals relatively poorly with such political efforts. It is necessary to emphasize that there is a great disproportion between the views presented in his report in relation to what the High Representative is really doing to overcome these problems.”

    2023-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9466 (2023) · source

14. “First, the current High Representative is the first to face mass protests by the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who on two occasions protested in front of the High Representative’s Office, expressing their dissatisfaction with his behaviour and announced decisions. The large number of both gatherings of citizens, in which no political parties participated, tells us that the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina are aware of all important issues in our country, but also that they are aware and dissatisfied with some bad decisions made by the current High Representative. I believe that the High Representative will appreciate and respect this in his future work, especially in the field of making future decisions.”

    2023-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9466 (2023) · source

15. “I do not want to participate in any unnecessary discussions about whether the High Representative is legitimate or not, because Bosnia and Herzegovina has no role in the appointment of the High Representative. Only those who appoint the High Representative can answer that question. Not even the High Representative himself can give any interpretation about his own appointment, because he did not appoint himself. As for the specific report of the High Representative, it is essential to highlight several very important elements that the High Representative himself either did not mention in his report or did not present in an appropriate way.”

    2023-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9466 (2023) · source

16. “We have to look at all the reports of the Office of the High Representative, present and future, through that prism. The facts of the various geopolitical games that are being played out in Bosnia and Herzegovina can be demonstrated simply through the efforts of various actors and political groups to challenge the legitimacy of the High Representative, thereby trying to create space for the implementation of planned geopolitical interests. Regardless of the fact that there are political debates in Bosnia and Herzegovina about whether the High Representative is legitimate or whether he was elected in accordance with the appropriate procedure, I would like to clearly point out that I support the existence of the Office of the High Representative until the realization of the so-called 5+2 conditions creates an environment for its closure.”

    2023-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9466 (2023) · source

17. “The Dayton Peace Agreement itself has become a tool for various geopolitical contests between various players on the geopolitical scene. We can also see a common denominator among the different actors in those geopolitical contests. It is the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina has not actually been allowed to make the transition to a modern democratic State and has therefore remained stuck in ethnic policies aimed at ensuring the complete collapse of the country’s political and social systems. In fact, ethnic politics and ethnic groups are being used to create tension and instability in order to achieve both short- and long- term geopolitical goals more easily. I consider such geopolitical behaviour towards Bosnia and Herzegovina absolutely unacceptable.”

    2023-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9466 (2023) · source

18. “At the beginning, I would like to remind the Council that the legitimate goal of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Dayton Peace Agreement, was the establishment of peace, which has certainly been achieved in the past 28 years. After the establishment of peace, Bosnia and Herzegovina began the process of its transition towards a modern democratic State, which is the next goal and to which full attention should be given. Unfortunately, 28 years after the signing of the Dayton Agreement, Bosnia and Herzegovina has still not completed the entire path of its democratic transition and has remained trapped in a vortex of ethnically based policies and various ethnically projected goals.”

    2023-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9466 (2023) · source

19. “Mr. Komšić (Bosnia and Herzegovina): At the outset, I would like to express my respects and congratulations to the President of the Security Council, as well as my satisfaction with the extension of the mandate of the European Union Military Operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The occasion for my address today refers to the events of the latest six-month period as presented in the report of the Office of the High Representative, with a special emphasis on several very important facts that have shaped political events in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the activities of the High Representative.”

    2023-11-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9466 (2023) · source