Cormack Soon to Arrive in BiH

The US Senate has accepted President Barack Obama's proposal and appointed Maureen Elizabeth Cormack as the Ambassador of the United States of America to BiH, according to US media, which has also been confirmed for the Patria agency by the US Embassy in Sarajevo.

As reported by the US Washington Post, several other ambassadors were confirmed along with Cormack, including those to Turkmenistan, Botswana, and Fiji.

Incidentally, Friday will mark one year since Cormack was nominated, and her confirmation was pending due to relations within the US Senate. She will succeed Patrick Moon, who left BiH in August 2013.

Cormack addressed the Senate on March 6. Cormack reminded them that she had worked on BiH and Balkan issues several times in her career, stating that she participated in the appointment of staff for the first US embassy in Sarajevo after Dayton.

- The US has invested a lot in BiH with the intention of strengthening democracy, human rights, and the economy in BiH, and thanks to that, the country has progressed. However, we cannot dismiss the risk of regression. BiH and the US have a special bond, as we helped end the war and bring peace to that country – Cormack said at the time.

She announced that she would work directly with the citizens of BiH. She stated that she supports BiH's aspirations to join the European Union and NATO.

Cormack highlighted that the progress of Croatia and Serbia is an additional motivation for BiH.

Senator Markey, Chairman of the Committee, said when introducing the ambassador that he believes she will strongly contribute to the State Department's mission with her leadership in her new role in BiH.

Cormack is a career diplomat; she worked at the State Department as Deputy Coordinator of the Bureau of International Information Programs. Among other things, she also served as Director of the Office of Western European Affairs from 2009 to 2010, and as Deputy Director of the Office of Korean Affairs from 2006 to 2009.

She worked on Homeland Security committees from 2005 to 2006. She joined the State Department in 1989. She earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois and her master's degree from the University of Chicago.