The Ambassador of the United States of America to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Michael Murphy, addressed the Conference of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian-American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Tuzla. In his speech, he expressed regret that BiH’s Euro-Atlantic future is further away today than in 2009.
The country is facing a toxic cocktail of destabilizing political challenges: more and more authoritarianism and secessionism from Republika Srpska, divisions in the Federation, and weakening institutions at the state level.
He states that the country could have been steered in the right direction by means of the international community and the April package, which would have strengthened state institutions, however, he states, with the fall of the April package, the international community moved away from BiH, and the state’s momentum stopped, after which it went in the opposite direction.
“Bosnia and Herzegovina must take care of its multi-ethics. In the previous seventeen years, political leaders resisted this path with all their might. Instead, they promoted division by accusing those others of denying them, or those they represent, a brighter future. They did this by deliberately obfuscating relations between parties, party leaders and ethnic groups, designed to perpetuate mistrust. That is why it is necessary to remember during discussions and negotiations regarding such matters, that Bakir Izetbegović is not SDA and that SDA are not all Bosniaks, that Milorad Dodik is not SNSD and that SNSD are not all Serbs, and that Dragan Čović is not HDZ BiH and that HDZ Bosnia and Herzegovina are not all Croats, even when these leaders present themselves as such,” said Ambassador Murphy.
