UNSC debate on Bosnia and Herzegovina

INDIA STATEMENT

By

Mr. R. Ravindra

Deputy Permanent Representative-Political Coordinator

4 May 2021

Mr. President,

Let me begin by extending our best wishes to the Chinese delegation on assuming presidency of the council for this month and I wish them all success. I would also like to congratulate our Vietnamese colleagues for a successful presidency. I would like to thank High Representative Valentin Inzko for his useful briefing and for his comprehensive and detailed report.

2. The Dayton Peace Agreement remains the corner stone for building enduring peace and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina. To this day, Dayton continues to define the framework to find solutions related to inter-ethnic conflict settlement through dialogue of the parties on the basis of equality and mutual respect, compromise and consensus.

3. The Office of the High Representative (OHR), as an ad-hoc international institution mechanism, has been overseeing the implementation of the civilian aspects of the Agreement. Towards this end, we also recognize the progress made in the last two and half decades and the important role played by Operation EUFOR Althea under EU leadership and the contribution of the international community. These efforts have brought about peace and allowed sustenance of a complex political governance structure. Of late, there have been some visible frictions though, including avoidable rhetoric and actions, which have hampered progress in the implementation of the Agreement.

4. We believe it is incumbent on OHR to continue to work with all parties objectively to build trust to overcome the impediments. OHR is an ad-hoc mechanism and expeditious implementation of the 5+2 agenda should continue to remain the top priority. We are of the view that the issue of OHR needs to be resolved through consensus.

5. Mr. President, the reporting period has witnessed some positive developments, despite the negative impact of the Covid pandemic. The tripartite Presidency has issued a joint statement marking the 25^th anniversary expressing commitment to respect the provisions of the Agreement and Constitution. The elections to the assembly in Brčko District and local assemblies in cities and municipalities in both the Federation and Republic of Srpska have taken place. This is a welcome trend reflecting people’s faith in democracy. The Council of Ministers, as mentioned by the High Representative, has met regularly and the Presidency has also taken decisions within its competencies.  At the same time as mentioned in the Report of OHR, several areas remain where progress has been little or less than satisfactory, including in bringing to an end ethnic-based discrimination and in improving coordination among the State and entity level institutions.

6. The increasing number of illegal migrants transiting Bosnia and Herzegovina is a matter of serious concern, given its impact on the internal security and the potential of radicalization. India stands ready to extend support in capacity building to address this challenge.

7. We pay homage to those who lost their lives during the 1990s. Having witnessed genocide in our own neighborhood 50 years ago, we are convinced that the attempts to seek justice for those who were massacred or went missing must actively continue. In this regard, we welcome the adoption of the Revised War Crimes Processing Strategy.

8. While there has not been much progress on implementing 5 +2 agenda, we should not lose sight of positive developments like elections to the assembly in Brčko District. Bosnia and Herzegovina has come a long way in building a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious country. The problems that the country is facing are typical and bound to be encountered on the path of nation building, especially when inhabited by people of different faiths, ethnicities, and languages. We hope the Bosnian parties will continue their engagement in a spirit of compromise and maturity to address all outstanding issues.

I thank you, Mr President.