Jencha, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, United Nations for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, briefed the Council.
In his briefing to the Security Council today, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas Miroslav Jenča said that developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina are mixed, and that the country's authorities and institutions at all levels should help society to constructively resolve the problems left over from the past in order to create a prosperous and peaceful future for all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is made up of two political entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska, whose main ethnic groups are Bosnian Croats, Serbs and Croats, who are Islamic, Orthodox and Catholic, respectively.
In a letter to the Security Council on 25 April, the Serb chairman-in-office of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Tsvijanović, highlighted the "serious challenges" facing the country in recent years, saying that they threaten the functioning and long-term sustainability of the country as a whole. In view of this, Russia has requested that the Security Council hold a briefing on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Committed to stability and peace
Assistant Secretary-General Jenča said that since the briefing to the Council last July, developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina have taken on different aspects, both positive and worrying.
He noted that the United Nations had taken note of the decision of the European Council in March this year to open negotiations on the accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union, and that the political leadership of Bosnia and Herzegovina had reached a consensus on the path of European integration.
Yancha also mentioned that also based on a unanimous commitment to a stable and peaceful future, the BiH Council of Ministers also sought support from the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund at the end of 2022 to help strengthen social cohesion, respect for diversity, and understanding and trust, especially among young men and women from different communities.
He stressed that, following a positive response from the Secretary-General, the implementation of the Peacebuilding Fund-supported initiative had begun with close cooperation with the authorities and communities at all levels in Bosnia and Herzegovina. These projects focus on the implementation of the agendas of "Women, Peace and Security", "Youth, Peace and Security", and community dialogue.
Seeking truth and accountability
But Jencha also noted that just in recent months, "we have witnessed words and actions that contradict these positive developments." He said that the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Nderitu, during his official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina last year, had found that the country was repeatedly threatened by separatism and that there had been a trend of hate speech, genocide denial and glorification of war criminals.
In March 1992, a three-and-a-half-year war broke out between the three communities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In July 1995, the worst massacre in Europe since World War II took place in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina: over the course of 11 days, Bosnian Serb military police and those sent by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia raided and captured Srebrenica, killing some 8,000 local civilians, the vast majority of them Muslim men and boys.
Yancha reiterated that both the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice had found that genocide had taken place in Srebrenica that year. Special Adviser Nderitu said that Bosnia and Herzegovina must improve understanding of the past through the search for truth and accountability, and address the root causes and continuing effects of such violence in society, as only then can sustainable peace be achieved.
Promote trust and reconciliation
Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly called on all people in the region and beyond to reject hate and divisive rhetoric, as well as distrust and fear-mongering.
He also acknowledged that over the decades, there have been many people in Bosnia and Herzegovina who have done outstanding work to promote trust and reconciliation in the country. At the same time, he expressed the commitment of the United Nations to support Bosnia and Herzegovina on the path of reconciliation, peacebuilding and sustainable development.
