Annual Report on BiH Presented at OSCE Permanent Council: International Community Must Remain Vigilant and Engaged

(Patria) - The regular session of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on March 27, 2025, featured a comprehensive annual report on BiH presented by the Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, Brian Aggeler.

The report received broad support within this most important political body. Ambassadors and permanent representatives of the EU, the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada, Switzerland, Turkey, Norway, Albania, and several other countries, in addition to expressing support for the work and mandate of the OSCE Mission to BiH, devoted a significant part of their addresses to the current political situation and attacks on the institutional functionality of BiH.

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of BiH to the OSCE, the UN, and other international organizations in Vienna, Danka Savić, addressing those present on the occasion of the presentation of the report by the Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, Brian Aggeler, at the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, thanked the OSCE Secretary General Feridun H. Sinirlioglu and the ambassadors and representatives of participating states who, in their statements, expressed support for Bosnia and Herzegovina and unequivocally condemned efforts to undermine the constitutional order of our country. She also praised the OSCE Mission to BiH for its continuous and effective fulfillment of its mandate, especially in light of ongoing political and operational challenges.

She emphasized that since the establishment of the Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina 30 years ago, the OSCE has had one of the most extensive mandates and a key role in all processes of post-war recovery, reconciliation, and strengthening of state institutions, the electoral process, protection of human rights, media freedoms, gender policy, and empowering women to participate in politics and public life, as well as in all other areas.

Ambassador Savić stressed that the activities of the OSCE Mission are also crucial for ensuring that the country adheres to its international obligations, and that the OSCE Mission's commitment to work in areas such as parliamentary oversight, police modernization, border security, cybersecurity, arms control, and the fight against terrorism helps BiH advance security sector reform, but also improve accountability and strengthen its international commitments.

Referring to what was termed "increased instability and attacks on legislative and institutional functionality," Ambassador Savić emphasized that from everything we have heard so far at the Permanent Council, there is a broad international consensus that preserving the peace, unity, and sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina is of utmost importance, but that "the international community must remain vigilant and engaged in fulfilling its mandate."

"Continuous attempts to undermine state institutions threaten not only the internal stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina but also its European path. Yet, despite these challenges, we remain firmly committed to defending these achievements and ensuring that judicial institutions remain independent, professional, and protected," said Ambassador Savić.

In a special address, she thanked the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Finland, Elina Valtonen, for her engagement and recent visit to BiH.

Prior to the session of the Permanent Council, Ambassador Savić also discussed the situation in BiH with the OSCE Secretary General Feridun H. Sinirlioglu and invited him to visit Bosnia and Herzegovina in the coming period.