Bosnia and Herzegovina at an International Crossroads - is the name of Conference that was held today in Washington, DC and that was organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). The Conference gathered prominent regional experts and discussed the future of OHR, constitutional reforms and international integrations.
One of the speakers was the president of Bosnian American Advisory Council for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Mirsad Hadzikadic, who participated in panel named "International Integration and the Domestic Agenda".
THE SPEECH:
Ladies and Gentlemen, esteemed guests,
I would like to thank the organizers for putting forward today’s series of panel discussions on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s future and thank you for including myself, as a voice of the Bosnian-American community, on this panel. It was not an easy task to arrange this conference and I thank you for your efforts.
I am President of the Bosniak American Advisory Council for Bosnia & Herzegovina, an NGO headquartered here in Washington DC, advocating the needs and interests of Bosnian-Americans. Today, there are over 300,000 Americans of Bosnian heritage that last year heavily contributed to the 1.5 billion U.S. dollars invested in Bosnia by its Diaspora. This number will only grow in the future.
Our community has the greatest level of personal interest in seeing a truly democratic, peaceful and prosperous Bosnia and Herzegovina emerge from the aggression against Bosnia in the 1990’s, and the concurrent genocide committed against the Bosniak people as affirmed by the Senate and House Resolutions in 2005. This formal acknowledgement of aggression and genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina is timely, considering the anticipated reforms ahead of us.
The Bosnian-American community already has a distinguished history of contribution to the U.S. society. We today serve in America’s Armed Forces and Diplomatic core, we work as university professors, lawyers, leaders in the corporate world, and we are small business owners. We are capable and willing to contribute to the formulation of the U.S. foreign policy in the region, in order to both promote U.S. interests and to help Bosnia become a truly democratic and prosperous state. Bosnia deserves nothing less.We have lived in Bosnia and have been educated and brought up in the U.S. Thus, we have the best understanding and knowledge on how to bring and apply American democratic values to Bosnia. The Bosnian constitution must reflect these values.
On our initiative, a Congressional Caucus on Bosnia is currently being formed on the Hill. We are confident that a strong bipartisan Congressional Caucus will play an active role in advising, supporting, and steering political and economic advancements in Bosnia. There is no doubt that this effort will help guide U.S. foreign policy in the region.
We sincerely thank the United States administration, as well as the previous administration, for all their efforts which have resulted in stopping the aggression and genocide. It is true that substantial progress has been made since then. However, it is also true that Bosnia is not yet well-equipped to function as an effective, sovereign, democratic state.
I would now like to describe our community’s views on how Bosnia could become such a state.
It is Time for Change
The Dayton Agreement was successful in ending the fighting and has run its course. Eleven years after the beginning of Dayton implementation it is clear that the Dayton constitution cannot secure a fully democratic, peaceful, and prosperous Bosnia for all of its citizens on all of its territory. More so, Dayton has become dangerous considering the growing absence of a coercive international force.
Since the Dayton institutional framework was necessary medicine to stop aggression and genocide, including anachronistic entities and the ethnic and national discrimination enshrined within them, the Dayton institutional framework now needs to be replaced with a new agreement that Ed Joseph talked about today if we are to see long-term stability and prosperity.
U.S. Involvement Must Increase
While we view, and continually stress, that Bosnia should be a future member of the EU and have close ties with Europe, the U.S. should never underestimate its importance to Bosnia. Bosnia owes the U.S. much and the Bosnian people understand that. When Europe ignored the war against Bosnia and did nothing to stop it, the U.S. stepped in and did stop it. The U.S. remains the most respected international actor in the region, and American leadership is needed now more than ever to push through some of the toughest reforms. The American-Bosnian partnership, and America’s active presence in Bosnia, ought to be strengthened.
Importance of the E.U. Stabilization and Association Agreement
One of the most important short-term issues in Bosnia relates to conditions required for signing the EU Stabilization and Association agreement (SAA), namely reforms in the police, public broadcasting, and education sectors. Regarding educational reform, we urge the creation of a state level ministry in charge of education laws and procedures. Bologna principles should be implemented. The current practice of overt segregation in education must be stopped. Educational reform with the Bologna principles is in the interest of all of Bosnia’s people.
Police reform is an issue that has become a political rather than an expert or law-enforcement question. We fully support the three EU conditions stating that there should to be no political interference in police work, that the police budget should be covered by the state budget, and that effective police regions should be formed. The current system obstructs Bosnia’s law enforcement professionals from doing their job efficiently.
Lastly, public broadcasting continues to remain an issue. While ultimately, we as Americans do not understand why the state must directly run television programming instead of the private sector, the current Public Broadcasting System (PBS) must not be divided into ethnic channels. This will only strengthen forces that support continued segregation.
War Criminals Must be Arrested
We Bosnian Americans, also remain incredulous to the continuing freedom of indicted war criminals such as Karadzic and Mladic. They must be arrested and turned over the Hague Tribunal immediately. All individuals, entities or states, including Serbia and republika srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who do not meet this internationally mandated action, must be severely sanctioned. The war crimes trial processes will aid reconciliation by punishing the guilty.
A New Constitution is a Prerequisite for Permanently Stable Bosnia
A new constitution must ensure that all of the rights of all of Bosnia’s citizens, regardless of ethnicity or faith, are secured in all parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and that those rights are actively protected in reality. Also, each and every Bosnian citizen must be equal before the law and must have equal access to the law throughout all of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Currently only Serbs, Croats, or Bosniaks can be members of the Presidency of Bosnia. As ambassador Beecroft pointed out a Bosnian Jew or a member of any other minority group is denied this fundamental civic right. This is unacceptable and this is only one example of the many undemocratic principles coming out of the Dayton constitution.
A Strong Office of High Representative is Critical
While we appreciate and welcome the International Crisis Group’s most recent report on Bosnia, we do not agree that Bosnia is ready to create conditions for EU membership on its own A strong Office of High Representative, fully prepared to use its Bonn powers, is critical for helping Bosnia become self-sustainable. The nationalistic and damaging rhetoric from Prime Minister Dodik of the republika srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina convinces us that such leaders cannot bring Bosnia to Europe.
In conclusion, I stress again that our community has vitally strong, personal interests in seeing that Bosnia become a haven of democracy, peace, prosperity, and justice for all of its citizens. We are here to help address these issues and to define plausible solutions. Our keen personal insights, family ties, and other connections to Bosnia, as well as our experiences as Americans, give us unique and unparalleled knowledge, capabilities and perspectives to help Bosnia, U.S. and Europe create a better future for the region.
I want to finish my remarks with the recent event exemplifying why we need a new deal for Bosnia.
In Konjevic Polje, in the republika srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a new Orthodox church has been erected on the property of a Bosniak resident, Mrs. Fata Orlovic, whose family was among the first to return to the village. She has been trying for several years to get the municipal authorities and the republika srpska entity courts to order the church, built on her land, to be vacated and moved to a new location, without success so far. Today, she is being sued for inciting hate by republika srpska entity courts for merely looking to secure her property rights. That is why we need a new deal for Bosnia.
Thank you for your attention.
One of the speakers was the president of Bosnian American Advisory Council for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Mirsad Hadzikadic, who participated in panel named "International Integration and the Domestic Agenda".
THE SPEECH:
Ladies and Gentlemen, esteemed guests,
I would like to thank the organizers for putting forward today’s series of panel discussions on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s future and thank you for including myself, as a voice of the Bosnian-American community, on this panel. It was not an easy task to arrange this conference and I thank you for your efforts.
I am President of the Bosniak American Advisory Council for Bosnia & Herzegovina, an NGO headquartered here in Washington DC, advocating the needs and interests of Bosnian-Americans. Today, there are over 300,000 Americans of Bosnian heritage that last year heavily contributed to the 1.5 billion U.S. dollars invested in Bosnia by its Diaspora. This number will only grow in the future.
Our community has the greatest level of personal interest in seeing a truly democratic, peaceful and prosperous Bosnia and Herzegovina emerge from the aggression against Bosnia in the 1990’s, and the concurrent genocide committed against the Bosniak people as affirmed by the Senate and House Resolutions in 2005. This formal acknowledgement of aggression and genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina is timely, considering the anticipated reforms ahead of us.
The Bosnian-American community already has a distinguished history of contribution to the U.S. society. We today serve in America’s Armed Forces and Diplomatic core, we work as university professors, lawyers, leaders in the corporate world, and we are small business owners. We are capable and willing to contribute to the formulation of the U.S. foreign policy in the region, in order to both promote U.S. interests and to help Bosnia become a truly democratic and prosperous state. Bosnia deserves nothing less.We have lived in Bosnia and have been educated and brought up in the U.S. Thus, we have the best understanding and knowledge on how to bring and apply American democratic values to Bosnia. The Bosnian constitution must reflect these values.
On our initiative, a Congressional Caucus on Bosnia is currently being formed on the Hill. We are confident that a strong bipartisan Congressional Caucus will play an active role in advising, supporting, and steering political and economic advancements in Bosnia. There is no doubt that this effort will help guide U.S. foreign policy in the region.
We sincerely thank the United States administration, as well as the previous administration, for all their efforts which have resulted in stopping the aggression and genocide. It is true that substantial progress has been made since then. However, it is also true that Bosnia is not yet well-equipped to function as an effective, sovereign, democratic state.
I would now like to describe our community’s views on how Bosnia could become such a state.
It is Time for Change
The Dayton Agreement was successful in ending the fighting and has run its course. Eleven years after the beginning of Dayton implementation it is clear that the Dayton constitution cannot secure a fully democratic, peaceful, and prosperous Bosnia for all of its citizens on all of its territory. More so, Dayton has become dangerous considering the growing absence of a coercive international force.
Since the Dayton institutional framework was necessary medicine to stop aggression and genocide, including anachronistic entities and the ethnic and national discrimination enshrined within them, the Dayton institutional framework now needs to be replaced with a new agreement that Ed Joseph talked about today if we are to see long-term stability and prosperity.
U.S. Involvement Must Increase
While we view, and continually stress, that Bosnia should be a future member of the EU and have close ties with Europe, the U.S. should never underestimate its importance to Bosnia. Bosnia owes the U.S. much and the Bosnian people understand that. When Europe ignored the war against Bosnia and did nothing to stop it, the U.S. stepped in and did stop it. The U.S. remains the most respected international actor in the region, and American leadership is needed now more than ever to push through some of the toughest reforms. The American-Bosnian partnership, and America’s active presence in Bosnia, ought to be strengthened.
Importance of the E.U. Stabilization and Association Agreement
One of the most important short-term issues in Bosnia relates to conditions required for signing the EU Stabilization and Association agreement (SAA), namely reforms in the police, public broadcasting, and education sectors. Regarding educational reform, we urge the creation of a state level ministry in charge of education laws and procedures. Bologna principles should be implemented. The current practice of overt segregation in education must be stopped. Educational reform with the Bologna principles is in the interest of all of Bosnia’s people.
Police reform is an issue that has become a political rather than an expert or law-enforcement question. We fully support the three EU conditions stating that there should to be no political interference in police work, that the police budget should be covered by the state budget, and that effective police regions should be formed. The current system obstructs Bosnia’s law enforcement professionals from doing their job efficiently.
Lastly, public broadcasting continues to remain an issue. While ultimately, we as Americans do not understand why the state must directly run television programming instead of the private sector, the current Public Broadcasting System (PBS) must not be divided into ethnic channels. This will only strengthen forces that support continued segregation.
War Criminals Must be Arrested
We Bosnian Americans, also remain incredulous to the continuing freedom of indicted war criminals such as Karadzic and Mladic. They must be arrested and turned over the Hague Tribunal immediately. All individuals, entities or states, including Serbia and republika srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who do not meet this internationally mandated action, must be severely sanctioned. The war crimes trial processes will aid reconciliation by punishing the guilty.
A New Constitution is a Prerequisite for Permanently Stable Bosnia
A new constitution must ensure that all of the rights of all of Bosnia’s citizens, regardless of ethnicity or faith, are secured in all parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and that those rights are actively protected in reality. Also, each and every Bosnian citizen must be equal before the law and must have equal access to the law throughout all of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Currently only Serbs, Croats, or Bosniaks can be members of the Presidency of Bosnia. As ambassador Beecroft pointed out a Bosnian Jew or a member of any other minority group is denied this fundamental civic right. This is unacceptable and this is only one example of the many undemocratic principles coming out of the Dayton constitution.
A Strong Office of High Representative is Critical
While we appreciate and welcome the International Crisis Group’s most recent report on Bosnia, we do not agree that Bosnia is ready to create conditions for EU membership on its own A strong Office of High Representative, fully prepared to use its Bonn powers, is critical for helping Bosnia become self-sustainable. The nationalistic and damaging rhetoric from Prime Minister Dodik of the republika srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina convinces us that such leaders cannot bring Bosnia to Europe.
In conclusion, I stress again that our community has vitally strong, personal interests in seeing that Bosnia become a haven of democracy, peace, prosperity, and justice for all of its citizens. We are here to help address these issues and to define plausible solutions. Our keen personal insights, family ties, and other connections to Bosnia, as well as our experiences as Americans, give us unique and unparalleled knowledge, capabilities and perspectives to help Bosnia, U.S. and Europe create a better future for the region.
I want to finish my remarks with the recent event exemplifying why we need a new deal for Bosnia.
In Konjevic Polje, in the republika srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a new Orthodox church has been erected on the property of a Bosniak resident, Mrs. Fata Orlovic, whose family was among the first to return to the village. She has been trying for several years to get the municipal authorities and the republika srpska entity courts to order the church, built on her land, to be vacated and moved to a new location, without success so far. Today, she is being sued for inciting hate by republika srpska entity courts for merely looking to secure her property rights. That is why we need a new deal for Bosnia.
Thank you for your attention.
