LAJCAK ADDRESSED UN SECURITY COUNCIL

NEW YORK, USA (November 17,2007) - The measures taken on 19 October have brought the poisoned political atmosphere in Bosnia into the open, the International Community's High Representative in Bosnia, Miroslav Lajcak, told the UN Security Council in New York.The current dysfunctionality of the Bosnian State has poisoned the political atmosphere.Bosnians “cannot be expected to put up with corruption, poverty, and the chronic inefficiency of government institutions and public services indefinitely, also preventing country’s smooth progress towards European Union,” he said.

To tackle Bosnia’s underlying problems the artificially created political crisis related to the Bosnian Government must be overcome,Lajcak said.

“This is a part of the broader situation in the Western Balkans and requires the full attention of the International Community,” said the International Community's High Representative in Bosnia,Miroslav Lajcak said in his address to the UN Security Council.

Lajcak told the UN Security Council that the International Community has assessed that the time is not right to leave Bosnia.Local ownership remains the goal, but with local ownership comes a responsibility for local leaders to make the necessary political compromises required in a modern democratic state.

“The International Community is not a bystander in the politics of Bosnia; it is a guarantor of the settlement that has maintained peace in the country for more than a decade,” said the High Representative Lajcak in his hour-long address to the UN Security Council.

“It is clear that the Office of the International community's high Representative in Bosnia (OHR) still has a substantial role to play,” said Lajcak adding that “my full mandate as the High Representative remains”.

None of the measures taken by the High Representative on 19 October eliminate the entities’ rights, nor do they affect any element of protection afforded to Bosnia’s constituent peoples.

“My recent amendments facilitate the work of the Bosnian Council of Ministers and will be a positive recommendation for OHR’s closure when the time comes to discuss that transition. For now, though, that discussion is a long way off,” said Lajcak.

The High Representative informed the UN Security Council that Bosnia is now the only country in the Southeastern Europe not to have a formal, contractual relationship with the EU despite the support of the clear majority of Bosnian citizens for this process.

The leaders of Bosnia who participate in the Bosnian Government have blocked the road to EU; at the same time the country cannot simply stand still when half of all Bosnian citizens live on or below the poverty line.

Lajcak announced three key areas in which he has focussed to build a functional Bosnia; Police reform so that the Stabilisation and Association Agreement can be signed, the arrest and transfer to the Hague of the remaining individuals indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and Constitutional reform, which must be launched in order to improve the functionality of the state and its institutions.

Noting that the UN Security Council will discuss an extension of the EUFOR mandate the International Community's High Representative in Bosnia said that EUFOR remains a key guarantee that the political issues that must be addressed as part of Bosnia’s post-war recovery will be addressed in a safe and secure environment.

“Compromise and agreement is possible – we saw this recently with the Mostar Declaration on police reform and with the adoption of a new Economic Platform by the State and Entity Prime Ministers a few weeks ago,” said Lajcak.

“Now, there are two options: escalation or deflation. Local actors can continue to act in bad faith and continue to escalate the situation, or they can act in good faith, and direct Bosnia back onto its EU path.”

LAJCAK BRIEFED US OFFICIALS ON CURRENT POLITICAL SITUATION IN BOSNIA

WASHINGTON, USA (November 17,2007) - “Concrete steps taken by Bosnia's political leaders will determine whether Bosnia will go further into isolation or towards European integration,” the International Community's High Representative and EU Special Representative in Bosnia, Miroslav Lajčák, told the United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns in Washington yesterday.

Following his address to the UN Security Council,Lajcak met with senior US State Department officials to brief them on the current situation in Bosnia. In his talks with US officials, the High Representative expressed his appreciation for the strong support the US administration has given to the peace process in Bosnia, and welcomed the US government’s continuing commitment to the country.

“Membership in the European Union is Bosnia’s key strategic objective but US engagement remains crucial”, the High Representative said, noting that, with the failure to agree police reform, the initialling of Stabilisation and Association with the European Union has been delayed.

Nicholas Burns expressed the US government’s full support for the actions of the High Representative, and called on political leaders in Bosnia to abide by their obligations and implement the High Representative’s decisions without delay.

Addressing the situation in the wider Balkan region, Miroslav Lajckk and Nicholas Burns rejected any linkage between the future status of Kosovo and the territorial integrity of Bosnia. Such comparisons are irresponsible and the international community will stand firm in ensuring full respect for the Dayton Peace Agreement, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state of Bosnia, Lajčák and Burns agreed.

During his visit to the US capital, the International Community's High Representative and EU Special Representative also held talks with the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Daniel Fried, and his deputy, Rosemary di Carlo, and the Senior Director for European Affairs at the US National Security Council, Judy Ansley.

NATO STRONGLY SUPPORTS LAJCAK

BRUSSELS, Belgium (November 17,2007) – NATO Spokesperson Simone Demanso said yesterday that NATO has been aware of the current political crisis in Bosnia and that NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoope Scheffer has recently expressed strong support to the Peace Implementation council (PIC) and the International Community's High Representative in Bosnia Miroslav Lajcak in relation to the recent measures aimed at strenghtening the Bosnian state.

”NATO has nothing to add in this moment to the issue the Secretary General spoke about”, Demanso said.

She could not give an answer to the question what NATO is going to do in the process of solving the crisis in Bosnia.

BOSNIAN MINISTER OF SECURITY TARIK SADOVIC MET WITH NATO HQ COMMANDER IN BOSNIA MAJOR GENERAL RICHARD WIGHTMAN

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (November 17,2007) – The Bosnian Minister of Security Tarik Sadovic had a meeting in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo with NATO HQ Commander in Bosnia Major General Richard Wightman.

They concluded that the security situation in Bosnia is stable and that preserving peace in Bosnia is in the best interest of all Bosnian citizens.

Sadovic and Wightman also agreed that the adoption of Law on Protection and Saving of People and Material Wealth in Cases of Natural and Other Disasters is of the key importance in the process of Bosnia’s integration to NATO and in the civic planning sector, the Bosnian Ministry of Security announced.

REMAINS OF 454 GENOCIDE VICTIMS EXUMED FROM A MASS GRAVE IN EASTERN BOSNIA

KAMENICA, Bosnia (November 17,2007) — Bosnian forensics experts working at a mass grave located in the eastern Bosnian village of Kamenica have exhumed remains of 454 Bosnian civilians murdered by the genocidal Serbian aggressor in 1995,during the Serbian aggression against Bosnia,Bosnian officials said yesterday.

The site is the ninth mass grave discovered in the village of Kamenica in eastern Bosnia. Another 100 bodies of the genocide victims are expected to be exhumed at the site, said Emir Ibrahimovic, a prosecutor from the eastern Bosnian city of Tuzla. The team has been working at the mass grave for three weeks.

Most of the remains recovered,those of 394 genocide victims,were incomplete.The remains of genocide victims were heavily damaged, a typical feature of "secondary" mass graves to which genocide victims' bodies were moved by the Serbian aggressor from an original burial site in an attempt to hide a crime.

Much of the moving in this case was done with bulldozers, which complicates the identification process because parts of the same body are sometimes found in two or even three different mass graves.

Along with the remains, Ibrahimovic said his team found documents indicating the genocide victims were murdered in the Srebrenica massacre, which were Europe's worst mass murder since World War II.

The genocidal Serbian aggressor overran in 1995 the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica , which the United Nations had declared a safe zone, and mass murdered as many as 10,000 Bosnian civilians.

Forensics teams have been uncovering mass graves throughout Bosnia in recent years, collecting the remains of genocide victims and extracting DNA to be matched with family members. Once a match is found, the body is returned to the family for burial.

Of the 3,500 bodies of genocide victims from Srebrenica excavated so far, 2,500 have been identified through DNA and some 2,000 buried in a cemetery in the Srebrenica suburb of Potocari. That is where the victims were last seen alive before being rounded up by the genocidal Serbian aggressor and taken to be executed.

Another 5,000 incomplete remains of genocide victims from Srebrenica,found in nearly 60 mass graves around Srebrenica,are still waiting to be identified.


A team from the International Commission for Missing Persons (ICMP) inspects personal ID's found during exhumation at a mass-grave site in a remote mountain area in the village of Kamenica near the eastern Bosnian town of Zvornik, 90 kms north east of Sarajevo, Bosnia, on Friday, Nov. 16, 2007.So far forensic experts recovered 454 body remains of genocide victims in this mass grave.All of exhumed bodies are believed to be those of Bosnian civilians from Srebrenica mass murdered in July 1995 by the genocidal Serbian aggressor,during the Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

SPIRIC ATTEMPTED TO DECEIVE BOSNIAN PRESIDENCY

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (November 17,2007) – All the events that occurred in relation to Bosnia's Prime Minister in resignation Nikola Spiric’s visit to New York is only his attempt of deceit of the Bosnian Presidency, the Bosnian President Zeljko Komsic’s Cabinet announced yesterday.

”Spiric told the Bosnian Presidency that he was travelling to New York as an answer to invitation of Milos Prica, Bosnia's Ambassador to the UN Security Council.

The Bosnian Presidency contacted the Ambassador and soon found out that Spiric’s statement was a lie.

"We will not even mention the fact that the Bosnian Ambassador at the UN is not a person authorized to make such an invitation," President Komsic's Cabinet said.

Spiric travelled to New York ignoring the demand made by the Bosnian Presidency that he should make all the statements there in accordance with the attitudes agreed upon. The fact that the Bosnian Ministry of Foreign Affairs resisted the implementation of such a conclusion passed by the Presidency is only a proof that this has not been the only attempt of ignoring the Presidency’s conclusions”, President Komsic’s Cabinet announced.

”It is clear that any attempt of implementation of order in the work of institutions in a country such is Bosnia causes various kinds of resistance. However, we would like to emphasize that the other two members of the Bosnian Presidency will support the conclusions that we have passed together”, President Komsic’s Cabinet announced.

”It has now become clear that Bosnia is lucky that the current Bosnian government is going to be replaced, for it is obvious that Spiric and some other ministers are acting in accordance with who knows what kinds of politics, oftentimes created outside of Bosnia. Functioning of the Bosnian state institutions is obviously not a priority for them,” the Bosnian President Zeljko Komsic’s Cabinet announced.

SPIRIC ADDRESSED UN SECURITY COUNCIL WITHOUT PERMISSION OF BOSNIAN PRESIDENCY

NEW YORK, USA (November 17,2007) – Bosnia's Prime Minister in resignation Nikola Spiric addressed the UN Security Council in New York even though the did not have the permission of the Bosnian Presidency, the Bosnian President Zeljko Komsic told journalists in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo.

President Komsic said that according to information available to him, the Russian Ambassador to the UN allowed Spiric to address the closed session of the UN Security Council.

President Komsic reminded that the Bosnian Presidency requested Spiric before his departure to New York that a platform be adopted by the Bosnian Presidency, i.e. that it be approved by the institution which is under the Bosnian Constitution responsible for conducting foreign policy,but Spiric refused and addressed UN Security Council illegally.

"Bosnia is the only country in the Southeastern Europe that has still not signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement and we need to do all in our power, both the domestic officials and the international community, which is not a mere observer in Bosnia, but also a participant, to ensure that this is done as soon as possible," Spiric said before the UN Security Council in New York.

Spiric said that it is difficult to talk about the current political situation in the region because they are complex and complicated and require an active approach of all well intentioned factors.

“We in Bosnia are monitoring developments with due attention. I know that the UN Security Council will soon consider the decision on extending the mandate of the European Union's force in Bosnia (EUFOR). I am aware that I cannot influence your decision, but I wish to use this opportunity to urge you to adopt a decision on extending the mandate of EUFOR. They have done many good things in Bosnia I wish to use this occasion to thank them for that. In addition to that, all stabilising factors in a country such as Bosnia are welcome”, Spiric said.

“The lack of willingness for positive promotion is a chronic problem of Bosnia. It sometime appears as if the media and the public prefer exploiting negative things and I think that all of us together need to much more on this matter. I fear that many remain deaf to my appeals for a greater dose of patriotism”, Spiric said.

“The existing Bosnian Constitution is certainly not perfect, but it is the only one we have and we need to respect it until it is changed. I fear that the situation will slip out of control if we allow spirits to escape out of the framework of the Dayton Agreement and the Bosnian Constitution, and it seems to me that the High Representative’s decision from November 19 is on the line of silent changes of the Dayton Agreement and the Constitution. The Peace Implementation Council (PIC) Steering Board has in the communiqué from its last session left room for certain corrections of that decision. I call on you that well all together encourage and support the High Representative in making those corrections so that passions can be calmed and so that we can all dedicate our full attention to reform challenges ahead of Bosnia. It is difficult to assess at this time how will things unfold in Bosnia following that decision”, Spiric said.

However,the International Community's High Representative in Bosnia recently stated that it is a paradox that Spiric is against OHR's measures aimed at the strengthening of the functionality of the Bosnian State Government,headed by Spiric himself.

Lajcak said it is a paradox that "the Chairman of the Bosnian Council of Ministers (Spiric) should resign over measures that are designed to make the Council, the body that he chairs, more efficient".

LAW ON POLICE REFORM COULD ENTER PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE BY DECEMBER 15

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (November 17,2007) – HDZ 1990 Party Deputy President Martin Raguz said in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo that the Bosnian Presidency, together with the parliamentary parties, needs to take political initiative and, following the first round of consultations on the appointment of the new Bosnian Prime Minister, set a clear pace of activities for Bosnia to follow towards the EU, rather than into further escalation of the political crisis.

“We think that all elements now exist for forwarding into parliamentary procedure the law on police reform before December 15, when the EU Summit at the top is scheduled to take place, and to ensure that initialling of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement based on that decision. Everything else would be unserious behaviour by parties and institutions”, Raguz said.

Raguz said that if this direction is taken HDZ 1990 will be willing to participate in the parliamentary majority.

“It is clear that the first round of consultations will not provide an answer to the question if we have a parliamentary majority and which parties participate in it. We therefore think that the Bosnian Presidency needs to intensify talks in the first and the second round”, Raguz said.