It is my great honour to
address the General Assembly today in my capacity as
the Chair of the Presidency of Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Allow me, at the very outset, to
congratulate Mr. Al-Nasser upon his election as
President of the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth
session, as well as the members of the Bureau, and to
express our full support for your future work.
Furthermore, I would like to congratulate Mr. Joseph
Deiss on the results achieved when he presided over
the sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly, in a
period when this body and the international community
in general were facing an array of challenges stemming
from current global issues.
I am especially honoured to extend
congratulations to the Secretary-General, Mr. Ban
Ki-moon, for his unanimous re-appointment as the
Secretary-General of the United Nations. Over the past
five years, Mr. Ban has worked tirelessly to address the
various issues facing the Organization. We expect that
the Secretary-General will continue to pursue these
activities during his second term.
Allow me to express my gratitude for all the
cooperation and the support we have received during
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s membership in the Security
Council, which will expire in a few months. Speaking
of our membership in the Security Council, let me once
again reiterate the view that the presence and
participation of small States such as Bosnia and
Herzegovina in the work and decisions of the Security
Council is particularly important for maintaining
balance within it. Accordingly, other countries, along
with the Security Council’s permanent members and
the world Powers, also have the opportunity to express
their views and participate in Security Council
decision-making on important issues of international
peace and security. It has been our pleasure and honour
to work together with all members of the Security
Council during the term of our membership,
2010-2011.
Bosnia and Herzegovina had the honour to
preside over the Security Council in January 2011.
Although acting as President was only one segment of
the two-year experience in the Council, Bosnia and
Herzegovina once again proved that it can be an equal
partner on the international diplomatic scene and
respond to a variety of obligations.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has played a
constructive role in the work of the Security Council
by contributing to the Council’s better, more effective
and faster response to situations with the potential to
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threaten international peace. Furthermore, Bosnia and
Herzegovina has also sought to share its own
experiences in post-conflict peacebuilding and
contribute actively to better and long-lasting
understanding and reconciliation. Through its role in
the Council, Bosnia and Herzegovina showed that it
can be an equal and competent partner in international
relations.
The Security Council thematic debate (see
S/PV.6472) entitled “Post-conflict peacebuilding:
institution-building”, which was initiated by Bosnia
and Herzegovina, reached a number of conclusions. I
would like to mention some of them.
In the interests of the success of peacebuilding
initiatives, priority must be given to institution-
building. so as to prevent a return to conflict and
ensure the survival, renewed credibility and legitimacy
of States. The purpose of institution-building is to
progressively reduce dependence on the international
community and promote sustainability. Ownership of
the reform process is the main condition for the
establishment of effective institutions and for ensuring
sustainable peace.
Success in post-conflict institution-building
depends primarily on establishing partnerships between
the international community and post-conflict
societies, a partnership that is based on a set of
common goals. Bearing that in mind, we would like
once again to thank the Assembly for the confidence its
members have shown and for the support they have
provided during our membership in the Security
Council.
Bosnia and Herzegovina also continues to
provide concrete contributions to the United Nations
peace operations in Liberia, the Sudan, Cyprus and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, we are united in our
determination to move towards full membership in the
European Union (EU); our unity provides a solid basis
for the achievement of this goal.
Bosnia and Herzegovina places special emphasis
on regional and subregional cooperation and dialogue
between neighbouring countries in the Balkans, with
their different cultures and traditions that have been
present for centuries. We are committed to future
cooperation with our neighbours, based on the
principles of mutual respect and respect for sovereignty
and territorial integrity. We are interested in sharing
our experiences with others and in developing mutually
beneficial relations in post-conflict peacebuilding,
based on mutual respect for differences, which, in our
opinion, represent an advantage.
I would like to take this opportunity to emphasize
that the issues of neighbourly and regional cooperation
are closely related to the integration of Bosnia and
Herzegovina into the EU and NATO, which is a
strategic and high-priority foreign policy objective for
my country. We believe that this is the best and only
way to ensure stability, security, economic
development and prosperity for all citizens of Bosnia.
The strategic goal of establishing formal relations
and EU membership is based on the aspiration of
Bosnia and Herzegovina to achieve the full functioning
of our own institutions and the further development of
society, on the basis of the principles of a free market,
the rule of law and, especially, the protection of human
rights.
Furthermore, my country wishes to improve its
relations with the States of Asia, Africa, Latin America,
Australia and the wider region, at the multilateral and
bilateral level, in accordance with common interests
and real possibilities. Bosnia and Herzegovina remains
dedicated to the principle of openness in cooperation
with all countries of the world.
Many important world events have occurred since
the previous session of the General Assembly. Bosnia
and Herzegovina is following with great attention,
preoccupation and concern the development of the
situation in the friendly Arab countries that are affected
by deep social and political changes. Bosnia and
Herzegovina supports democratic processes aimed at
the creation of free, democratic and prosperous
societies. However, such processes are often followed
by tragic consequences, and we therefore appeal once
again for the violence to stop and for peace to be
achieved in those societies.
We are deeply concerned by the standstill in
crisis resolution in the Middle East. Despite the
optimistic announcements and plans made, the peace
process has not yet been revived, as had been expected.
The only way forward is a solution that is based on the
principle of the peaceful coexistence of two sovereign
States: a viable and independent Palestine and a stable
and secure Israel, with respect for the provisions of
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international law and humanitarian law and human
rights instruments.
To date, the United Nations has supported and
actively participated in the creation of a positive
atmosphere in order to reach a just, comprehensive and
lasting peace in the Middle East. Bosnia and
Herzegovina believes that the conditions for a lasting
and just solution can be achieved with additional
political will and responsibility on the part of the
negotiating parties.
We are witnesses to the fact that the international
community’s determination to deal with terrorism and,
at the same time, create conditions conducive to the
peaceful development of Afghanistan has yielded
results. However, we cannot but conclude that it will
take much greater efforts to establish self-sustaining
peace and stability in Afghanistan. In April 2010, as a
sign of support for the activities of the international
community, Bosnia and Herzegovina issued a decision
on the sending of an infantry unit to the International
Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan.
I would like to emphasize here that Bosnia and
Herzegovina is still very concerned about terrorist
attacks, which claim innocent civilian lives in many
countries around the world. Bearing in mind the fact
that the modern world continues to face various forms
of international terrorism, I express our support for the
full implementation of the United Nations Global
Counter-Terrorism Strategy and the activities of the
Counter-Terrorism Committee. In that regard, let me
reiterate that Bosnia and Herzegovina is
unconditionally dedicated to the fight against terrorism
and is particularly active in cooperating with the
countries of our region to increase security and
enhance preparedness for the effective prevention of
terrorist acts. Completing negotiations and adopting a
United Nations comprehensive convention against
terrorism would be an important contribution in this
field.
In addition to the political crisis, this year we are
faced once again with many other problems to which
the international community still lacks proper and
effective responses. Despite signs of recovery, the
greatest economic and financial crisis in recent history
has, unfortunately, left visible consequences that are
having repercussions on global peace and security. It is
clear that countries individually cannot cope with this
issue, no matter how efficient their Governments may
be. Global crises require global solutions.
In the context of the activities of the United
Nations, we must face the fact that the greatest
economic crisis since the foundation of the world
Organization has to some degree threatened and even
begun to bring into question the achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals, one of the most
comprehensive strategic tasks set by the Organization
since its establishment.
Therefore, it is necessary to do everything in our
power, individually and collectively, in order to
prevent any further erosion of this key strategic
project. We believe that it is necessary for the
international community, especially the United
Nations, to redouble its efforts to assist primarily the
least developed countries.
The climate change problem caused by human
activity is leading to changes in the environment that
could have catastrophic consequences for humankind
as a whole if the process of reaching agreement on
environmental protection is not intensified.
Bosnia and Herzegovina shares the concern of the
most States Members of the United Nations at the fact
that drought, floods, sea-level rise, lack of running
water and food, deforestation and all the other
phenomena caused by global warming pose a serious
threat to global security, which in future could be a
cause of conflict throughout the world. The extremely
important issue of climate change therefore requires
urgent action by the international community. Bosnia
and Herzegovina has expressed interest in joining the
countries that support the Copenhagen Accord; thus
our country has joined the large number of States
Members of the United Nations that consider that
Accord to be a necessary step in relation to Kyoto until
the achievement of a final, legally binding agreement.
Bearing this in mind, I believe that neither
economic nor political interests should stand in the
way of achieving a global consensus as the beginning
of the global and common struggle to preserve the
natural balance of the planet. It is often forgotten that
climate change has a direct effect in terms of
development, poverty and hunger, and, consequently,
global peace and security. I am convinced that it is in
our common interest to ensure that future generations
inherit the best possible world on our common home,
planet Earth.
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I hope that all of us who are here today agree that
comprehensive United Nations reform is necessary;
such reform must be carried out with extreme care,
with the broadest possible consensus on the part of
Member States. Bosnia and Herzegovina sees the role
of the United Nations and its agencies as central to
resolving key issues of international significance.
Therefore, it supports the Secretary-General’s efforts
and proposals for reform.
United Nations reform should lead to the efficient
and coordinated functioning of all agencies and bodies
of the United Nations system, bearing in mind the need
to avoid any duplication of activities in the context of a
more rational allocation of financial resources.
Regardless of the future configuration of the
Security Council, we believe that the Eastern European
group of countries must have another non-permanent
seat, taking into account the fact that in the past two
decades the number of countries in this group has more
than doubled.
While presiding over a subsidiary body of the
Security Council — the Informal Working Group on
Documentation and Other Procedural Questions —
Bosnia and Herzegovina set the consideration of the
working methods and transparency of the Security
Council as a primary goal. Bosnia and Herzegovina
also organized several informal meetings in
cooperation with partner countries and the General
Assembly, at which States Members of the United
Nations expressed their opinions and views and put
forward concrete proposals for improving the
efficiency of the Security Council.
I wish to emphasize in particular that it is
expected that the United Nations, particularly the
Security Council, be more active in the area of
preventive diplomacy. We believe that in order to make
the work of the Council more efficient, greater activity
in this respect would provide a starting point for
resolving many of the world’s problems and crises
before they flare up. Providing timely and effective
conflict prevention, rather than reacting once the crisis
has escalated, is certainly a more efficient and less
expensive mechanism for preserving peace and
security.
During the six decades of its existence, the
United Nations has undergone ordeals but it always
was and still is the best framework for seeking and
providing adequate responses to the wide range of
global issues that we face. Therefore, I urge Member
States to work for the full implementation of all our
agreements in order to make the world a better place
for our future generations.