The United States of America today welcomed the appointment of a new Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland today said the U.S. government congratulates Chairman Bevanda and the entire government as they take up the important responsibility of leading Bosnia and Herzegovina forward on behalf of its citizens.
Ms. Nuland states that with the new Council in place, the world confident that the Bosnian Government will be able to build on its recent passage of EU-related legislation to open the door for a Bosnian application for EU candidacy.
She says that the U.S. government also expects that the government will address as top priorities an agreement on a 2012 budget and the registration of defense property to meet NATO’s condition for full participation in the Membership Action Plan.
“We look forward to continuing to support Bosnia and Herzegovina’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration aspirations, alongside our European and other international partners.” -Ms. Nuland
An estimated 40,000 people went missing as a result of the conflicts of the 1990’s in the former Yugoslavia, approximately 30,000 of them in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The 1992-95 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was ended with the participation of the United States in brokering the 1995 Dayton Agreement. The United States maintains command of the NATO headquarters in Sarajevo. The U.S. government has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to help with the rebuilding of the war-devastated country in terms of infrastructure, humanitarian aid, economic development, and military reconstruction.
