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REMARKS BY U.S. AMBASSADOR NANCY SODERBERG

Five weeks ago, the Council met to extend UNMIBH's mandate for another 12 months, and to call for a clear strategy for completing the mission by December 2002.

As the Secretary General makes clear in his latest report, this is a realistic objective that can be reached if we provide UNMIBH with the resources it needs to get its job done.

We welcome this briefing on UNMIBH's progress since June, and the additional opportunity to discuss the Secretary-General's report - which did not get adequate coverage in June.

My government supports UNMIBH and the International Community's important priorities: refugee returns, economic reform, and the strengthening of State Institutions.

The U.S. has set aside significant resources for work in these areas including 67.2 million dollars to support minority refugee returns and close to two million dollars for the new State Border Service.

We will also continue our significant contribution -- currently more than 10 percent of the total force -- to the IPTF.

My government commends the work of UNMIBH's Judicial System Assessment Program (JSAP) over the past two years. It has highlighted critical problems in the Bosnian judicial system and made important recommendations.

We welcome the agreement by the Office of the High Representative (OHR) to establish an Independent Judicial Commission which will closely monitor and intervene in the upcoming re-vetting process for judges and prosecutors in BiH, as well as provide oversight for the Bosnian Councils which are responsible for their appointment and discipline.

We are looking forward to more details as to how and when the handover will occur from JSAP to the new Commission, as well as further information on how the program will be implemented.

Mr. President, we are encouraged by the positive developments referred to in the Secretary General's report. It is inspiring to see the dramatic increase in refugee returns, even of minority groups to areas that saw some of the most dramatic violence during the war.

We are seeing slow but continuing progress in setting up the State Border Service, a key element of the New York Declaration agreed to by members of the Joint Presidency during their appearance in the Council last November.

We need to continue our common efforts to ensure that all of Bosnia's joint institutions are vigorous and effective.

We are encouraged by signs that the nationalism and hatred of the past are slowly giving way to new respect for democracy and the rule of law.

There is also good news from Croatia, where the new democratic Mesic/Racan government has had a positive impact on the Croat community in Bosnia. We particularly applaud the strong message of support to Croatian moderates delivered by PM Racan during his recent visit to Bosnia.

But we cannot tolerate continued obstructionism.

In that regard, my delegation fully supports aggressive use by the High Representative and the OSCE in Bosnia of the mandates provided by the International Community.

We applaud efforts to remove or restrain all those standing in the way of Dayton's full implementation: the war criminals remaining at large, the organized criminals, and the nationalist extremists.

Of course the greatest obstacle to progress in Bosnia, as in the rest of the region, remains in Belgrade. The Belgrade authorities continue to obstruct progress in Bosnia, repress their own people, and threaten democracy in Montenegro. The international community's efforts to bring the Balkans into Europe will never fully succeed until the current regime is gone.

Despite these obstacles, Bosnia is beginning to knit together. Much work remains to be done. We reaffirm our commitment, together with our colleagues in the international community, to see the task through.

In this regard, with respect to the PIC Ministerial, I would simply note that the Belgrade regime has done nothing since the December 1998 Madrid PIC Ministerial it walked out of to merit its participation in the PIC. The PIC Ministerial is, after all, a meeting of those interested in advancing the peace in Bosnia. (end text)