WASHINGTON — The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) announced today the following briefing on the current situation in Bosnia:
Spotlight on Bosnia – Obstacles to Progress and Recommendations for the International Response
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
210 Cannon House Office Building
Panelists:
Clifford Bond, former U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Vice President of the American University in Bosnia-Herzegovina
Kurt Bassuener, Senior Associate, Democratization Policy Council
Nida Gelazis, Senior Associate, European Studies Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Bosnian politics have deteriorated in recent years. Since the October 2010 elections, the political parties have been unable to reach agreement on the formation of a new governing coalition at the state level. Bosnian politics today are marked by increased nationalist rhetoric, which sometimes threatens the country’s peace, stability and territorial integrity, and the parties’ unwillingness to work constructively with the representatives of the international community. Though Bosnia has made considerable progress in its recovery from the brutal conflict which began in early 1992 and lasted until the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords in late 1995, the parties have failed in their attempts to move beyond Dayton compromises, which, though needed to end the conflict, have hindered the efficient and effective government needed to achieve Euro-Atlantic and European integration. The briefing will look at the sources of the political impasse and examine possible courses of action for the international community.
