S/PV.5713 Security Council

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. Members of the Council have before them document S/2007/394, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by the Russian Federation. It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. Unless I hear any objection, I shall now put the draft resolution to the vote. There being no objection, it is so decided.

There were 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 1764 (2007). I now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements following the voting.

The United Kingdom voted in favour of the resolution today, but I would like to give an explanation of our position. I would like to place on record the United Kingdom’s strong support for the role and responsibilities of the High Representative, who is also the European Union’s Special Representative. We welcome Mr. Miroslav Lajčák to this role and we pledge our commitment to cooperate with him as he discharges his responsibilities under the Dayton Peace Agreement and subsequent Peace Implementation Council (PIC) decisions and as he leads the international community on the ground and helps advance, in partnership with the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia’s Euro-Atlantic integration. As the resolution notes, it is the PIC Steering Board that appointed the High Representative and that decides on the mandate of his Office. While formal agreement of the Security Council is not necessary, we welcome the Council’s support for those decisions. We hope that the leaders in Bosnia will see the adoption of this resolution as an indication of the international community’s firm backing for Mr. Lajčák and his Office and for his future decisions, as it has backed all previous High Representatives and their decisions. We are disappointed at the nationalist sentiments expressed by some Bosnian leaders in recent months. These serve only to retard the reform process and hinder the building of a multi-ethnic, democratic and prosperous country on the verge of getting into Europe. Our understanding is that nothing in this resolution or those it recalls impacts on other Balkans issues being considered by the Council. Finally, I would like to say a word about the PIC declaration of 19 June 2007. That declaration confirmed that the Office of the High Representative would remain in place and would continue to carry out its mandate and that the aim is closure of the Office by 30 June 2008. The PIC will review the situation in October 2007 and in February 2008. Those assessments will naturally take into account the position of security and stability in the region. We hope that that security and stability will be well and truly established by that point and will be irreversible.

The Russian Federation welcomes the Council’s adoption today of a draft resolution prepared by my delegation on the Council’s agreement to the appointment of Ambassador Miroslav Lajčák as the new High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. This decision is in keeping with the Dayton Agreement, previous Council resolutions on Bosnia and Herzegovina and previously reached agreements. The very fact of the adoption of this resolution and its content speaks for itself. We expect that the new High Representative, Ambassador Lajčák, will continue with the thoughtful and constructive approach taken by his predecessor, Mr. Schwarz-Schilling, aimed at helping the Bosnian parties to reach a compromise decision through constructive dialogue. We believe that Ambassador Lajčák will continue to work along those lines, providing maximum assistance in the area of the promotion of diplomatic mechanisms and local initiatives and rejecting the practice of the unlimited use of the Bonn powers. I should like once again to express our gratitude to Mr. Schwarz-Schilling for his work in the post of High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

There are no further speakers inscribed on my list. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.