Ambassador Cormack: I arrived at the right time, a year full of challenges and work lies ahead of us

US Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Maureen Elizabeth Cormack published her first comment on her blog, after officially becoming ambassador, reports the Patria news agency.

She said she can hardly wait to hear the thoughts, dreams and problems of BiH citizens, and to help your efforts for BiH to become a country where everyone has a chance, as it should be. Read about her first impressions, as well as key priorities.

- After the first week in your beautiful country, I want to share with you my first thoughts and ideas on how I expect we will work together.  On Friday, I officially became the US Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina by presenting my credentials to the Chairman of the Presidency, Mr. Mladen Ivanić.  I look forward to working with him, President Bakir Izetbegović, President Dragan Čović, as well as with Minister of Foreign Affairs Zlatko Lagumdžija.

Thank you all for the exceptionally warm welcome.  It took a long time for me to arrive, but I feel as if I have, in fact, arrived at the right moment.  New authorities are being formed, and our European partners are once again showing commitment to bringing Bosnia and Herzegovina closer to EU membership.  A year full of challenges lies ahead of us, and a lot of work needs to be done.  However, this is also a year in which important anniversaries are being marked.

I will focus on working with all of you and with our international partners to make this country a fully functional and democratic society accountable to its citizens.  On Monday, I visited Brussels and met with key actors in the European Union and NATO alliance, who once again confirmed their commitment to working with you to make BiH part of those institutions.  You know that the US is committed to helping BiH become an open and progressive democracy, and I want to work with my team from the Embassy to find ways to help this country move from a phase of stability to a phase of prosperity.  Because we believe that strengthening BiH's ties with the West is key to achieving this goal, and polls show that most of you want this, I will not hesitate to ask political leaders to fulfill the promises they make to Euro-Atlantic institutions and, more importantly, the promises they made to their citizens at the time of elections.

Needless to say, active engagement of civil society is a key part of such efforts.  I plan to soon start traveling across the country and talking to you – to hear what concerns you, what your hopes are, and, most importantly, to try to identify new ways in which we can contribute to a better future for BiH.  To move from mere survival to real progress, the business and investment climate must improve so that people can find jobs.  For that to happen, individuals and institutions in BiH must seriously address corruption, as well as the politics that tolerates corruption, and the legal system that turns a blind eye to corruption.  The Embassy has new anti-corruption programs, and this will be a topic of conversation I will have with everyone – from the most important leaders to shop owners.  Not only must BiH make it easier to start a new business, whether it be large companies or small enterprises, but that process must be beneficial for everyone.

Another thing I want to discuss with the widest possible audience is how BiH can further promote the tolerance and rich diversity that are the foundation of this country.  In that regard, I firmly believe that children should attend school together and learn according to a unified curriculum so that they get to know each other and, at the same time, acquire the skills needed to make a concrete contribution to the future of their country.  Moreover, I want to participate in discussions on how to move beyond merely overcoming traditional national and ethnic divisions, including minorities and other, sometimes marginalized groups in society.  My mother grew up on a small farm in rural America, and my father grew up in an urban immigrant environment, and they taught me that a country must harness the diversity of backgrounds and values of all its citizens to be successful.

As the official representative of the US Government, I will certainly work with the institutions and political leaders of this country.  But, at the very beginning of my mandate in BiH, I want to emphasize how seriously I count on every citizen and civil society in addressing the numerous problems ahead of us.   From what I have learned about BiH and from the vast experience of my team at the Embassy, I believe we need to devote even more attention to supporting the large number of talented citizens, intellectuals, NGOs and journalists who play a key role in positive change.  They should not only be praised, they should be joined.  For me, that task begins on Monday – follow my activities.

 

 

I can hardly wait to meet you, to hear your thoughts, dreams and problems, and to help your efforts for BiH to become a country where everyone has a chance, as it should be.  I want to visit all parts of the country, meet you and experience your rich and diverse culture.  And as I do so, I plan to continue using this space to maintain an open dialogue with the citizens of BiH, as my predecessors did.  My country is a true friend and ally of BiH, and I intend to actively build our relations on those solid foundations.