The EU Delegation/EU Special Representative Office notes the press release of the BiH Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued today relating to a meeting on foreign policy issues held with Ambassadors of EU Member States including Ambassador Sorensen.
A line in the press release purports to convey statements of the Head of Delegation/EUSR:
“Ambassador Sorensen on this occasion said that not a single KM has been paid to the account of the institutions of BiH and that there has been no abuse of the donor funds.”
The EU Delegation/EUSR states for the public record that this is a false representation of the discussion, and Ambassador Sorensen did not make the statement attributed to him.
In a discussion about donor funds for flood recovery initiated by the Foreign Minister of BiH, Ambassador Sorensen in fact said that it was his understanding that pledges by the IMF and World Bank had been transferred to BiH, and that other bilateral donors stood ready to transfer funds once BiH authorities have defined relevant allocation criteria.
Notwithstanding the European Commission’s organisation, together with France and Slovenia, of the Donors’ Conference, ownership of donor funds co-ordination lies clearly with BiH authorities.
ST
