US Ambassador to B&H Eric Nelson gave an exclusive interview to "Daily avaz", in which he spoke about the latest statements of the Russian Ambassador to our country, which are related to the NATO path of Bosnia and Herzegovina, then about the new High Representative, changes to the Election law, corruption, which he says is a cancer of Bosnia and Herzegovina's society...

Step forward

Russian Ambassador to B&H Igor Kalabukhov recently stated that the rapprochement between B&H and NATO is a hostile step towards Russia. How do you comment on that?

-My response instead of threats NATO and the EU... US as a NATO ally is offering to Bosnia and Herzegovina a strong parthership and open hand. A partnership commited to reforms and progress in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The NATO partnership with Bosnia and Herzegovina has been important for years and has taken a new step forward as we move to the Programe of reforms where Bosnia and Herzegovina has the opportunity to define the progress they want to achieve with allies support. That progress, those reforms are complimentary to the reforms neccesary for the EU path.

 And the Programe of reforms is the guide for the US and for other allies to respond and to provide assistance as Bosnia and Herzegovina most needs. So NATO's efforts to help this country move forward continue, this is assistance offered with an open hand. As a collection of allies we're concensus organization and it's important to us that we operate by consensus and it is clear also that we recognize the consensus in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

And now I see that consensus as a broad support for an effective NATO partnership. Strong appreciation for the assistance NATO allies can bring to help move the country forward. And appreciation of the peace NATO has brought to the region and to the Bosnia and Herzegovina and the opportunity that NATO's assistance in these reforms can strenghten security, rule of law, expand prosperity and attract investment.

Can Russia influence B&H's path to NATO? That is, how and when can B&H create eventual NATO membership?

-NATO's door stands open. The path to that open door, the path to membership is path that has many milestones defined by the reforms. And progress that Bosnia and Herzegovina needs to achieve. Progress in raising Bosnia and Herzegovina's standards for security, standards for rule of law, standards for governance, standards for accountability, standards for fighting corruption, standards for modernization of defense.

All of this progress are milestones on the path which we support Bosnia and Herzegovina moving forward on. To one day reach that open door and be able to decide when all allies by consensus also decide Bosnia and Herzegovina you're ready, you're welcome. And at that point that the consensus among the citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the consensus in the Government be strong that this is a partnership, this is a alliance that makes sense for Bosnia and Herzegovina that will secure lasting prosperity and lasting security for this country and it's neighbours as it has for all NATO members across Europe and the Atlantic.

I just want to reinforce. B&H is a sovereign country. The speed which they move on that path is decided by Bosnia and Herzegovina. The decision to join the alliance will be taken by Bosnia and Herzegovina. It's a sovereign country and no other country can tell them what their goals should be. But we understand the goals of citizens. We understand that the citizens are looking for strenghtening rule of law, they want security, they want prosperity and that's what we will support. That continued progress in improving in those areas.

New energy

So, in NATO only with the consensus of everyone in B&H...

-NATO is a coalition of willing partners. And the decision to join NATO will require consensus within the leadership of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Because we need leaders who see the value of this kind of partnership and are willing to build on it and bring better results for citizens. So, it will be a leadership decision. This is a stated goal of Bosnia and Herzegovina. And we support that goal. But we know that we don't want a reluctant member. And I'm confident that more and more as this partnership progresses as reforms take wholes, that consensus will be strong.

After Joe Biden was elected President of the United States, the stronger involvement of the American administration in B&H is increasingly mentioned in public. There are also talks of a possible initiative for changes to the Dayton Constitution of B&H, all with the aim of a more functional organization of the state of B&H. How realistic are the expectations of the public and the citizens of B&H?

-I think that first of all every change in the administration in the United States brings new energy, new perspective and new focus to the White House. And it's clear that this change in the administration president Biden brings with him, decades of the expirience in foreign policy and a first hand knowledge and experience with the Western Balkans, with Bosnia and Herzegovina. He knows what the challenges are, he knows how long these challenges have remained and how difficult Bosnia and Herzegovina recent history has been.

I always re-emphasize as well how regardless of the administration what's I hope every citizen appreciates, and factors into those expectations you talk about is the very consistent support from Washington which is bipartisan support where year after year the Congress of the United States, both parties, support and commit resources to Bosnia and Herzegovina's progress. So that has changed little. We still support Bosnia and Herzegovina's success.

Expectation of citizens, I think Secretary Blinken's letter yesterday to the Presidency is a good reference point for people to understand what the Biden administration sees as the issues in 2021. in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the opportunities. First of all is that, I think the Secretary reaffirmed that the United States stands with the citizens. The United States listens, supports what B&H citizens are aspiring to, what their expectations are for security, for peace, for prosperity, for rule of law.

And these are expectations which are not being met right now in Bosnia and Herzegovina. And we know that there are many shortcomings. There are shortcomings in the Dayton Constitution. The courts have made that clear. Those shortcomings need to be adressed and as Secretary Blinken said they can be adressed through serious dialogue, meaningful compromise, expanding consensus on adressing the reforms including limitet constitutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina so that next elections in 2022. will be fair and that every citizen will have an equal opportunity to be a candidate and every citizen will feel that their vote counts.

From the letter of the Secretary of State Anthony Blinken it should be noted that there will be no radical changes to the Constitution, but that with talks and consensus there will be a gradual change of the Constitution of B&H ...

-Yes exactly. I think that was the main point of the Secretary's letter, you give me an opportunity to quote it. The Secretary noted that difficult and complex problems can be adressed through step-by-step negotiations that require compromise and dialogue. We know this can work because it worked last year to resolve the long standing barricade on elections in Mostar.

2021. the US sees as the year of the opportunity. It is not an election year. It is the year when reforms should be tackled. Serious reforms should be tackled. If we try to fix everything we're likely to fail. If we try, if we consider the only outcome, acceptable outcome is perfection we will surely fail. But if we focus on what can be improved this year incrementally on top priorities that we see are well laid out in 14 key priorities of the EU opinion which in the 5 + 2 agenda is parallel and complementary, this is about incremental change.

As a Secretary said „focus on implementing limited but significant constitutional, electoral, rule of law and economic reforms to ensure the rights of all citizens in the electoral process, improve judicial integrity, reduce the scope for corruption, enhance economic recovery and begin to restore citizen confidence“.

That is a long list. Because the list of things that citizens want to see repaired is even longer. But that's a list where we see real opportunity for progress this year. If political leaders engage in serious dialogue and be ready for the compromise necessary to help this country move forward to the benefit of all of it's citizens.

Involve the CEC

Negotiations between the SDA and HDZ on changes to the Election Law are underway. The HDZ insists on resolving the "legitimate representation of Croats". How do you comment on these negotiations? Should other political actors be included in the negotiations on the Election Law and discuss other obvious problems and shortcomings of the election process, the prevention of election theft, the introduction of, for example, electronic voting?

- Well the kind of reforms that Bosnia and Herzegovina needs to tackle in 2021. all require serious dialogue, compromise and consensus. That kind of serious dialogue is going to need expanding transparency. All parties need to participate. And it also will need institutional support. This is not about the will of any party above another. This is about multiple parties coming together to compromise on electoral reform above all. And what is the package that would be necessary for enough parties to come together to agree on electoral reform to achieve that goal I've mentioned of 2022. being a year of freer elections where every citizen is able to be a candidate and every citizen feels that their vote counts.

So, that kind of reform is going to require not just legislative change, changes to the election law will not alone adress Sejdić-Finci in the European Court of Human Rights rulings. Those must also be adressed. So, we've got election law reform is one basket that needs to be adressed. The second basket is the Sejdić-Finci and the European Court of Human Rights rulings which identify the shortcomings in the election process, which will require limited constitutional reform. And the third basket which is part of this reaching fairer elections that are more satisfying to citizens is the election reform. The implementation of the recommendation ODIHR and GRECO, of the Council of Europe and of the OSCE on the major weaknesses in the election processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

So that's an essential element as well. An element that we know is necessary to bring support from all parties and from all citizens. How does this all make sense and how do we reach fairer elections? I want to add, there is an important component here and some conditions. One is that this is not just the political party exercise. This will be an institutional exercise as well. This begins with political parties discussing ideas and trying to build consensus. But it ends with the Parliment finally taking a vote. So all of these proposals will become reality when they pass the Parliment. So the Parliment will have the final say. And the implementation will require the institutions engaging, above all Central Election Commision. So the Central Election Commision is a fundamental. Their participation in this process is fundamental.

And the United States support of this process is support of a ODIHR led process where ODIHR has led this process in multiple countries. And their approach requires that the CEC be involved. Because how can you reform elections if you're not including the Central Election Commission. So, we see that as important, we knows they need their meaningfull voice, meaningful participation, we know all parties need to have meaningful participation and the condition of the US is that all of these changes to the constitutional or the election law be steps forward. We're not here to facilitate and we will not support changes that actually take the country backward, that don't advance the country on its path to achieving, to move it closer to the EU, that don't empower citizens and improve the integrity of their vote and the equal participation of all citizens in the election process.

So that is certanly a clear condition that the US has in our understanding of this kind of reform looks like, what we know, what we believe citizens are desperate for and that we believe also is achievable.

Autocratic societies

Corruption has been cited for years as a cancer of B&H society. It appears to have escalated during the coronavirus pandemic. You talk about it regularly in public appearances. Do you think that enough is being done in the fight against corruption and what needs to be done to finally deal with this scourge in B&H?

- I like your description of corruption. I too describe it as a cancer in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Corruption is a cancer on any democracy. Corruption is lifeblood in for an autocracy. But for a democracy it's like cancer. And it needs to be attacked. It needs to be navigated, it needs to be fought. The efforts in Bosnia and Herzegovina to adress corruption are inadequate. I'm afraid the cancer is winning. And I'm afraid many citizens, I know many citizens have that sense as well. And I think we see that most grievously in the exodus of families, of youth from Bosnia and Herzegovina who are thinking they could give up and seek up opportunity elsewhere. In countries they overwhelmingly choose to leave for the members of Euro - Atlantic community. Where they know rule of law is strong, opportunity exists, security exists, individual rights are guaranteed.

Attacking corruption has got to be a priority. And I want to talk to you about a couple of ways that the United States thinks it needs to be tackled. One is at the high level. Within the European Union's 14 key priorities there's avery strong emphasis on strengthening rule of law. This specific targets for strengthening rule of law include a conflict of interest law that meets EU standards, reforms to HJPC law that bring integrity to that troubled institution, important reforms like asset declaration.

Also in the 14 key priorities is passing a public procurement law to limit the unacceptable level of corruption in public procurement. There's now a law that Council of Ministers has approved which the EU Delegation has assessed, it meets European Union standards. It is important that that law not be watered down in Parliment. There's already 7 pages of amendments attempting to water it down.

So those are three reforms that should be adopted in 2021. to tackle corruption, to begin to fight this cancer. The cancer also needs to be attacked day to day. And there are several ways to do this. One is for citizens to feel empowered, for journalists to feel empowered, and USAID assistance is working to empower civil society, to support investigative journalism, to fulfill that role. But we are also working with local governments who are willing to get serious abut fighting corruption by pursuing a model we see as quite effective which is an Anti – corruption office. Sarajevo Canton set up the first and it's been effective in a setting up a broader attack on cancer because this model which we hope to expand to more cantons and jurisdictions in Bosnia and Herzegovina recognizes that cancer must be attacked by law enforcement, by judiciary but also by the institutions themselves, the administration.

The Anti-corruption office works on ensuring that they are administrative penalties, that there are systems in transparency and controls to live it and discourage corruption and penalize it before it even needs to reach the prosecute. Which brings me back to the judiciary and the losing war on this cancer here in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Because the prosecutor in your analogy needs to be the surgeon removing the tumor of cancer from the body. And we see too few prosecutors in this country willing to take on that operation. There are a few, there are too few.

And out assistance is targeting those who come under attack as does the Anti-corruption office. We're trying to fight invested interests. To empower them to do their job but judiciary, sadly is not active in this war. The number of prosecutions of high level corruption is disgraceful. And citizes see that. And this is what saps the hope of citizens. And this is why we see 2021. as an important year to adress this.

It is not going to be keep cured for one day to the next. But every political party, every government institution, every citizen should be reaching the point to say enough. It's time to take action, it's time to fight corruption and put it in it's place. Whether you're cutting out the tumor or fighting it with good medicine. And good transparency, like x-rays on the cancer.

B&H did not meet the criteria to end the OHR

There are more and more talks about the arrival of a new High Representative in B&H, and Christian Schmidt from Germany is mentioned as a candidate. Is the US administration involved in talks on appointing a new High Representative? Who could it be and what can we expect from the new High Representative?

- Above all the United States supports the office of the High Representative and it's ability to meet it's mandate of ensuring full implementation of these civilian aspects of the Dayton Peace Accords. The OHR clearly still has an important critical role, function to play here in B&H and because by all measures B&H has not reached the criteria for graduation from international supervision which were set in 2008. by the Peace Implementation Council. They were simply defined as the 5 + 2 agenda. 5 objectives and 2 conditions which the Peace Implementation considered would describe Bosnia and Herzegovina readiness to graduate from international supervision.

The progress on that agenda has been very dissapointingly so not for lack of action by the High Representative with international community. The lack we've talked about, we expected local responsibility for the progress and there's been little. The United States will continue to support, we'll always support the High Representative, empowered and engaged to hold who is accountable, to help to move this country to graduation from international supervision. The results so far are inadequate, I think it's most obvious in the weak state's functionality.

Regarding the discussions of a change in the High Representative, United States sees that leadership transition is inevitable with every institution. And we support a continuity, we support effectiveness and we support the High Representative being able to fulfill the mandate and achieve the results that the PIC is expecting and I think that and I know that the citizens are expecting.

There are allegations of serious corruption at the time of the pandemic

The authorities in B&H, as an argument for not procuring the vaccines against COVID-19, are most often found in problems with public procurement laws. Is it a legitimate argument? Has enough been done on this issue?

- I think the difficulties that we are observing, the problems that we are observing with procurements during the pandemic period give us examples how the law is inadequate. On one hand there are allegations of serious corruption. Corruption that sadly even costs lives in this important fight againts pandemic. But, even that this kind of procurement cannot move forward confidently with transparency is indicator that the procurement law need to be updated, that the system does not bring in adequate competition, does not limit the conflict of interest, that does not have adequate transparency. All of those things need to be strengthen.

Because this hobles the government. It waists money, and it creates delays that even can cost lives. So I think it is an example of where the current public procurement laws are inadequate, begging with this state level.

All reforms that the United States will support are based on Dayton

-I find it important to always reaffirm as people are debating what these limited constitutional reforms look like. To reaffirm that all of these reforms that the US will support are built on that platform of the Dayton Constitution, are fundametally recognized in the principles od Dayton that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a sovereign country with teritorial integrity, consisting of a multiethnic country, consisting of three peoples and two entities. So I always reaffirm that is the constant.