US Assistant Deputy Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Philip Reeker said that the US administration will continue its support for the Western Balkans even after John Kerry assumes the role of the US Secretary of State.
In an interview for ONASA, FENA and SRNA, which was done via video-link from Brussels, Reeker said that Barack Obama will start his second mandate on Monday, but current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ends her mandate, and instead of her John Kerry will be named.
”I’m convinced that Kerry will continue the same engagement in the region of the Western Balkans as did this Hillary Clinton, who visited Sarajevo at the end of last year with the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Safety Catherine Ashton”, said Reeker.
Reeker is currently visiting Brussels, where he spoke with his colleagues from the EU and the European Commission, and they jointly stated that the road for BiH progress is clear – political leaders must set aside their political agendas, stop focusing on parties and incessant reshuffles of governments, and must focus more on country’s progress towards the EU and NATO.
”We agree with the EU that there are two key issues that must be tackled as soon as possible, and it is the implementation of the ”Sejdić and Finci ruling” and solving the issue of military assets, which has been agreed in March last year, but the politicians didn’t keep their obligations and agreements”, said Reeker.
He noted that in 2012, BiH political leaders missed many chances, and added that he expects that 2013 will be better.
”We’d like to see that the new BiH government focuses on positive reforms. I suppose that the talks about the reshuffle of FBIH government are under way, and I do hope that that issue will also be solved soon enough. It is high time for political leaders in FBiH to sit and jointly solve their issues” , said Reeker.
He noted that at the last session of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) it was concluded that political leaders cannot rely on the international community to solve their problems.
”Using the rhetoric of divisions and political games will not help in solving any problems in BiH and it simply distracts the attention from the work they must do”, noted Reeker.
He concluded that BiH public, more and more, shows the dissatisfaction with political leaders, which was noticeable at the last year’s local elections.
”BiH deserves leaders that can lead forward. It is the basis of democracy and democratic system. We expect that all citizens will find the politicians responsible for the promises they gave. It is need for if BiH wants to make a progress in 2013, especially on the Euro-Atlantic agenda, which is tightly connected with the economic progress of BiH”, said among other thing Reeker.
