Time for a more robust international approach on Bosnia and Herzegovina!
November 29, 2020Download 146.01 kb
Twenty-five years after the Dayton Peace Accords (DPA, 1995), it is high time for a more robust international approach! This is for us the main conclusion of two online events held on Thursday 15 October 2020.
The report is also available in Bosnian.
The DPA helped stop the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) and initially paved the way for processes of reconstruction and revitalization of communities. Yet, the DPA constitution for B&H and state structure also created huge obstacles for full democratization, human rights, transitional justice and the process of European integration. After an initial first ten years of strong involvement, and where needed direct interventions with the ‘Bonn powers’, the International Community changed its policy and put Bosnian ownership at the heart of its strategy for B&H.
Fifteen years later, we can only conclude that the ownership strategy did not deliver what we had hoped for. This document largely builds upon presentations and discussions at the two online meetings on October 15, 2020. During the meetings, we noted that there was a broad consensus that Bosnia and Herzegovina is struggling with numerous serious problems – many of them directly related to the political elite in the country, and that again a more robust approach from the part of the international community is needed.