Sarajevo meeting assesses Bosnia and Herzegovina’s progress in complying with OSCE and UN security commitments

SARAJEVO, 20 November 2014 – Enhanced awareness and compliance of Bosnia and Herzegovina's politico-military and security commitments as an OSCE participating State and UN member were the focus of the 7th Review Conference on Compliance with the OSCE/UN Security Commitments of Bosnia and Herzegovina concluded in Sarajevo today.

The conference, organized by the OSCE Mission to BiH and the UNDP Office in BiH, gathered government officials, security and defence experts and representatives of international organizations dealing with security commitments of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“These are issues that affect everyone.  Compliance with the UN and OSCE commitments is not just an issue to be dealt with at the strategic level,” said Ambassador Jonathan Moore, Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH. “The universal intent of these commitments is to diminish conflict, reduce the threat of natural disasters, and protect the safety and security of citizens.”

Yuri Afanasiev, UN Resident Co-ordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in BiH, said: “The purpose of this Review conference was to not only assess the progress that BiH has made in this field but also to identify jointly how BiH's capacities can be strengthened through measures to be taken by the authorities of BiH as well as by targeted assistance and support by the international community.”

Ana Trisic-Babic, Deputy Foreign Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina said: “Bosnia and Herzegovina is very responsible in implementing the politico-military commitments set by the UN and OSCE documents. The goal is to raise the confidence and security in BiH and in the region to the highest possible level.”

The BiH Foreign Ministry chairs the Co-ordination Team of the BiH Council of Ministers for the Co-ordination of Activities of Implementation of BiH’s OSCE/UN Security Commitments in the Politico-Military Field. 

Zekerijah Osmic, Defence Minister of BiH, said: “Dedicated implementation of security commitments and a harmonised approach to applying the major OSCE politico-military documents and of international legal regulations in disarmament are an important step towards fulfilling the preconditions for Euro-Atlantic integration.”