Ambassador Brian Aggeler assumed his duties as Head of the OSCE Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina in October last year, after which he visited cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and spoke with government representatives, assessing that Bosnia and Herzegovina is facing some real challenges.
He said in an interview with FENA that many political leaders seem more interested in their own political battles than in finding solutions for the country. Corruption has a significant negative impact on the daily lives of the people of this country, with a culture of impunity due to lack of prosecutions and, according to some indicators, the situation is actually getting worse.
“And too often, education policies and practices in BiH help fuel rather than prevent ethnic division across the country, depriving many children of the inclusive, non-discriminatory, high-quality education they deserve,” said Aggeler.
Still, after meeting with citizens and many dedicated officials across the country, he is convinced BiH can indeed make meaningful progress – if the country’s elected representatives have the courage to take the necessary steps.
He stated that political leaders have stressed their commitment to moving BiH forward on its reform path: creating jobs, fighting corruption and promoting the rule of law, ensuring high-quality education and caring for the environment.
“We all want to believe that this is not mere rhetoric. To keep up the momentum and move forward for the citizens of this country, BiH’s elected leaders – as well as police, prosecutors, and judges – need to stand up, put aside their differences and get to work,” stressed Aggeler.
He said that he was pleased that the new convocation of the BiH Council of Ministers has been appointed faster than ever before, bringing some new faces and coalitions in place at different levels.
He believes this will bring much-needed momentum to the reform processes, especially in the light of recently granted EU candidate status, and added that the OSCE Mission is eager to engage with the new leadership to make these efforts a success because with political will, much is possible.
Speaking about the electoral legislation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Aggeler stressed that it needs to be revised in a comprehensive manner, and the country’s citizens want this, too – over 60 percent of respondents believe it is important to amend the Election Law, according to a survey our Mission conducted in 2022.
Since authorities have failed to do this, the unresolved amendments to the BiH Election Law continued to pose an obstacle to ensuring future timely and fair elections in the country and the functionality of government and government formation and further decreased the trust of citizens in the integrity and transparency of the voting process, said the Ambassador.
He referred to the decision of the High Representative in BiH to impose changes to the Election Law on election night, saying that no one wants the OHR to impose solutions, including the OHR itself, and that measure was in response to a situation where BiH politicians failed to do their jobs.
“This can be frustrating for citizens but, 27 years after the war, political leaders need to take more responsibility so there is less need for the international community to solve problems,” emphasized the Head of the OSCE Mission in BiH.
Speaking of using hate speech, Aggeler said that compared to the previous election cycles, the trend of using offensive, divisive or humiliating language during election campaigns actually appears to be somewhat decreasing, as indicated in the results contained in the Mission-supported analysis issued by the Press and Online Media Council of BiH.
These results highlight the success of efforts that media outlets have exerted to reduce the number of negative comments. Unfortunately, however, hate speech as well as bias-motivated incidents and hate crimes remain prevalent in BiH, often targeting those who are already marginalized and vulnerable.
“Through the Mission’s eight field offices, we had eyes and ears on the ground following the situation in the run-up to and during the elections. We track and take note of all such incidents, including election-related ones. OSCE provides hate crimes-related training to courts and police across the country as part of wider Mission efforts to address and improve judicial responses to bias-motivated violence,” the Ambassador added.
He stressed that whenever they occur, be it during elections or any other time, such incidents require meaningful and effective institutional responses and reactions, including by justice sector actors. Such divisive activity and speech must be properly addressed to ensure equitable and safe communities.
“At the same time, hate speech legislation must not be abused to attack the important work of legitimate journalists. Unfortunately, our monitoring shows that journalists in BiH are being targeted more often by threats, physical and cyber-attacks, as well as online smear campaigns,” he stated.
He reminded that journalists play a vital role in informing citizens on critical issues and help hold powerful individuals and institutions to account in the interests of protecting and strengthening democratic societies.
In an interview with FENA, Ambassador Aggeler also spoke about the issue of illegal migration, stressing that the dramatic increase in the number of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers (MRAs) entering the country in 2018 certainly challenged BiH’s human and financial resources, and coordination and communication between institutions across levels of government was an issue.
Since 2018, much has improved on this front, including the provision of adequate shelter and care for MRAs. But challenges remain, and though the number of MRAs has now decreased, relevant institutions need to continue their readiness to coordinate and respond as necessary.
“Migration routes constantly change, and the numbers could once again increase. The Mission is actively engaged in supporting BiH efforts to improve border management, and ensuring that the human rights of MRAs are respected, with international standards respected in processing cases of trafficking human beings,” said Aggeler.
Ambassador believes that granting Bosnia and Herzegovina candidate status is an important opportunity if the country’s elected leaders accept it as an impetus to carry out much-needed work on long-delayed and urgent reforms in pursuit of the country’s stated goal of European integration.
Necessary reforms include strengthening the rule of law and good governance; protecting fundamental rights; combating corruption and organized crime; and strengthening mutual trust, understanding and respect between communities.
The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina is an active partner in working towards these goals. Our Mission has organized training on ethical standards and disciplinary practices for newly appointed judges and prosecutors in both entities.
The OSCE Mission carries out trial monitoring to identify and assess systemic rule of law and criminal justice issues. Together with the EU and US Embassy in BiH, the OSCE Mission supports initiatives for the development and adoption of conflict of interest legislation in line with international standards.
“Reforms are especially important for the young people of this country, who are leaving this country in search of better prospects and stability. To stem the high rate of brain drain here, young people need to see the possibility to build a stable, secure future in their homeland,” Aggeler stated.
The United Nations recently assessed that there are conditions for the spread of extremism in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ambassador Aggerler said that radicalization leading to violence and terrorism is a global issue and poses a serious challenge for many countries, but our BiH partners are committed to countering violent extremism and radicalization in all forms and in its earliest stages.
The Mission supports these efforts on several fronts, including through a new comprehensive intelligence-led policing project that is helping modernize police work and that promotes collaborative and proactive law enforcement – a prerequisite for fighting serious security threats.
Ambassador is of the opinion that law enforcement alone is, however, not enough. Given the complex interplay of factors that influence each individual process of radicalization to violence, as well as the range of social pressures, problems and challenges involved, an integrated, multi-sector approach is necessary for ensuring effective prevention.
There has to be collaboration, including among religious communities, the police, the judiciary, media, educators, health and social protection services, as well as NGOs, and the issue has to be recognized and treated by society and the local community as a whole.
“I am very pleased that, in addition to engagement by the security sector, we have seen increasing involvement by all these actors in BiH to help prevent violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism,” he pointed out.
As the Ambassador concluded in an interview with FENA, his primary goal is to support positive reforms in BiH, ensuring stability and prosperity for all citizens who understand that they have much more to gain from collaboration and mutual cooperation, regardless of their backgrounds.
We want people to hear about the amazing things taking place all over the country, such as what the five mayors from the Majevica region, from both entities, are doing to jointly promote regional economic development.
Photo: OSCE
