News in English     | 18.11.2018. 23:19 |

Jackovich: You have achieved a lot more than you might think

FENA Aida Kovač

SARAJEVO, November 18 (FENA) - The first ambassador of the United States of America to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Victor Jackovich, said today at a session of the association "Circle 99" in Sarajevo that there is a continuity of the US politics towards Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Jackovich, as a keynote speaker at the session of the 'Circle 99' spoke on the topic "BiH and the region in the rift of international policies," said that the US, in his opinion, has not given up on this important project to build BiH to be a state and to function as a state.

"You now have a more developed US Embassy than when I was here. Back then, it was just a handful of people. I welcome the work of Ambassador Cormack who very conscientiously presents the views of the US Government and administration towards BiH and this region," Jackovich told reporters before the start of the session, noting that he did not speak as a diplomat but as a citizen and friend of BiH.

He pointed out that the US Ambassador to BiH, Maureen Cormack, works very well on continuous improvement of relations between BiH and the United States.

He said that the situation in BiH "is far from enviable as far as the neighboring countries are concerned".

"We have to be innovative, we have to be more creative, not to look at the old mechanisms, but to invent new ones," Jackovich said, adding that it might be necessary to think of something new for BiH.

"If you ask an average American what to do today for BiH, you may receive a positive answer, and you may receive the answer such as: 'Have we not done enough so far'? Some will say we sent 20,000 soldiers, several ambassadors, a large embassy that is working there, and how many hundreds of millions of dollars in various forms of assistance. Some will say we have done a lot, invested in BiH, in the Balkans. Now, new times have arisen and now we have some new centers of world power. There is Russia, China, the Middle East, and all of them have influence here on this part of the world, and to me, the supra-institutions that exist in this part of the world, are NATO and the EU," said Jackovich answering a journalist's question whether the United States is aware of the Russian influence in BiH and how he sees this process.

If you look back, in your history, Jackovich noted, there was always some, as politology experts say "architecture" - the security architecture, in the form of the Ottoman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Yugoslav Kingdom, the SFRY, there was always something, and there is something that exists today, that is EU and NATO, within which BiH and neighboring countries can develop their mutual relations and preconditions for a better life of their citizens.

Asked to draw a parallel between 1992 and 2018, and how much progress has been made in BiH, Jackovich reminded that the state is functioning on the basis of the Dayton Agreement.

"I will not hide it, and I speak as a citizen, there are a lot of things wrong with the Dayton Agreement. Today, we can see how many of them, but there are also positive sides. The positive side is that it is part of a process that has stopped the state of war. There is no more war. So this is a foundation on which you can build a modern Bosnian state, "Jackovich underlined.

"You achieved a lot more than you might think," said Jackovich. 

"You are the ones that live here and you have to constantly look at the problems, challenges and this is normal. But when we look at Bosnia and Herzegovina from outside, we see certain progress. It can be better and more, it can always be more. It's up to you to continue working and t is up to us in the international community to continue as well. We must continue," Jackovich stressed.

Today's session of the Circle 99 was attended by members of the BiH wartime Presidency.

One of them, Haris Silajdžić, told reporters before the beginning of the session that the situation in BiH, which is not good because the neighboring states keep repeating the things we listened before and which were the introduction to the great cataclysm in this region, can also be seen from the brighter side.

"Why am I more optimist than a pessimist? Because most people in BiH want coexistence, a normal, peaceful life in mutual solidarity. That is why we are on the right side of history. Those who want fences and walls at this modern age of the Internet and open communication are on the wrong side of the history," says Silajdžić.

Therefore, BiH, the country as we see it, "shall win because we are on the right side of history".

"Europe needs us as much as we need Europe. It is just a matter of time when they come to understand it. It would be good for Europe to understand this as soon as possible," said Silajdžić.

He concluded that "we are ready to learn from Europe, but also Europe should learn from us."

President of the Circle 99 association Adil Kulenović pointed out in his introduction that the first US Ambassador to BiH, Victor Jackovich, was a man who was and remains committed to stability, peace, prosperous and democratic Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He announced that Victor Jackovich would be named the honorary member of the Circle 99.

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(FENA) S. R.

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