Ambassador Cunningham's UNSC Remarks on Bosnia-Herzegovina
U.S. Mission to the United Nations
New York
October 26, 2000
REMARKS BY AMBASSADOR JAMES CUNNINGHAM TO THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL
We welcome Mr. Petritsch back to the Council, and wish to thank him
for his thorough briefing on the progress his office has overseen to
date building a peaceful, multi-ethnic society in Bosnia.
We are encouraged by the positive developments noted in Mr.
Petritsch's report; in particular, the re-establishment of the Council
of Ministers and the increased rates of return of those displaced by
war. We also welcome steps to establish an Independent Judicial
Council (IJC) and note especially that a multi-ethnic court in Mostar
has begun to try those war crimes which ICTY [International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia] has approved for prosecution under
the so-called "Rules of the Road."
However, we remain concerned that some government officials and other
individuals continue to block the return of refugees and displaced
persons. The message must be clear - we will not tolerate continued
obstruction. We will work only with those political leaders who are
committed to implementing Dayton.
The United States strongly supports full and active use by the High
Representative and the OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe] in Bosnia of the mandates provided by the International
Community. There is real progress being made, and we need to
accelerate it. And with two vitally important elections coming up in
the region - in Kosovo and in Bosnia - it's time to go forward and
not to look at the past.
We should seek to remove or restrain all those standing in the way of
Dayton's full implementation: war criminals remaining at large,
organized crime figures, and nationalist extremists. In this regard,
we welcome the removal of the twenty-four individuals who were
blatantly obstructing implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement.
But these twenty-four are not the only obstructionists. Decisive
action is necessary to ensure that refugee returns continue and that a
climate based on the Rule of Law is established in Bosnia.
With specific regard to Mostar, we see some signs of progress there.
In light of repeated difficulties with funding for the local
administration, we would like to urge the office of the High
Representative to issue a decision instructing the local electricity
company, Electro Prwada, to pay a portion of its revenues to fund the
budget of Mostar, under terms that have been under discussion for
several months.
Finally, the democratic change in Belgrade is particularly significant
and auspicious. There will be a lot of problems ahead, but we hope the
new leadership of President Kostunica will have a positive influence
on events in Bosnia in the same way that Croatia's change in regime
has helped to normalize relations between Croatia and Bosnia.
Thank you, Mr. President.
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