[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 12, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6124-S6126]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Bosnia and Herzegovina

  Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, back to the subject of Bosnia, the carnage 
and tragic conflict that occurred in the early 1990s was more than 
about Bosnia. It was about security in a Europe just emerging from its 
Cold War divisions and the international principles upon which that 
security was based. For that reason, the United States, under President 
Bill Clinton, rightly exercised leadership when Europe asked us to, 
having failed to do so themselves. The Clinton administration brokered 
the Dayton peace agreement in November 1995 and enabled NATO to engage 
in peacemaking and peacekeeping to preserve Bosnia's unity and 
territorial integrity. That was the Bosnian peace agreement.
  Almost a quarter of a century later, after the expenditure of 
significant diplomatic, military, and foreign assistance resources, the 
physical scars of the conflict have been largely erased. As we learned 
during our recent visit, the country remains far short of the 
prosperous democracy we hoped it would become and that its people 
deserve. Mostar, a spectacular city to visit, remains ethnically 
divided with Bosniak and Croat students separated by ethnicity in 
schools, even inside the same school buildings. Bosnian citizens, who 
are of minority groups, such as Jews, Romanis, or of mixed heritage, 
still cannot run for certain political offices.
  This is 2018. They can't run for State-level Presidency, simply 
because of their ethnicity. Neither can Bosniaks and Croats in 
Republika Srpska or

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Serbs in the Bosnian Federation run for the Presidency because of their 
ethnicity, in Europe in 2018. Nor can those numerous citizens who, on 
principle, refuse to declare their ethnicity because it should not 
replace their real qualifications for holding office.
  This goes on despite repeated rulings by the European Court of Human 
Rights that this flaw in the Dayton-negotiated Constitution must be 
corrected. In total, well over 300,000 people in a country of only 3.5 
million fall into these categories despite what is likely their strong 
commitment to the country and to its future as a multiethnic state. 
This is simply wrong, and it needs to end.
  In addition, youth employment in Bosnia is among the highest in the 
world, and many who can leave the country are doing so, finding a 
future in Europe and finding a future in the United States. This denies 
Bosnia much of its needed talent and energy.
  Civil society is kept on the sidelines. Decisions in Bosnia are being 
made by political party leaders who are not accountable to the people. 
They are the decision makers. The people should be decision makers. 
Corruption is rampant. Ask anyone in Europe, and they will tell you, 
Bosnia's wealth and potential is being stolen by corruption.
  General elections will be held in October with a system favoring the 
status quo and resistance to electoral reforms that would give Bosnians 
more rather than fewer choices.
  The compromises made two and a half decades ago in Dayton to restore 
peace and give the leading ethnic groups--Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats--
an immediate sense of security make governance dysfunctional today. 
Two-and-a-half-decades-old agreements make governance inefficient today 
in Bosnia. Collective privileges for these groups come at the expense 
of the individual human rights of the citizens who are all but coerced 
into making ethnic identity their paramount concern and a source of 
division, when so many other common interests should unite them. 
Ethnically based political parties benefit as they engage in extensive 
patronage and corruption. Beneath the surface, ethnic reconciliation 
has not taken hold, and resulting tensions can still destabilize the 
country and even lead to violence. Malign outside forces, particularly 
Vladimir Putin's Russia but also influences from Turkey and Gulf 
States, seek to take advantage of the political impasse and malaise, 
steering the country away from its European and Euro-Atlantic 
aspirations.
  As a result of these developments, Bosnia and Herzegovina is not 
making much progress, even as its neighbors join NATO and join the EU 
or make progress toward their desired integration.
  In my view, we should rightly credit the Dayton agreement for 
restoring peace to Bosnia. That was 25 years ago, but it is regrettable 
the negotiators did not put an expiration date on ethnic accommodations 
so Bosnia could become a modern democracy. As one of our interlocutors 
told us, the international community, which has substantial powers in 
Bosnia, has steadily withdrawn, turning over decision making to Bosnian 
officials who were not yet committed to making the country work and 
naively hoping the promise of future European integration would 
encourage responsible behavior. That has not happened.
  Of course, we can't turn back the clock and can't insert that 
expiration date on the Dayton agreement, but having made a difference 
in 1995, we can and should help make a difference again today. It is in 
our national security interest that we do so.
  I suggest the following. The United States and our European friends 
should state, unequivocally, that Dayton is an absolute baseline, which 
means only forward progress should be allowed. Separation or new 
entities should be declared to be clearly out of the question.
  Secondly, U.S. policymakers should also remind everyone that the 
international community, including NATO, did not relinquish its powers 
to Bosnia but simply has chosen to withdraw and exercise them less 
robustly. We should seek an agreement to resurrect the will to use 
these powers and to do so with resolve if growing tensions make renewed 
violence a credible possibility.
  Next, the United States and Europe should adopt a policy of imposing 
sanctions on individual Bosnian officials who are clearly engaged in 
corruption or who ignore the Dayton parameters, Bosnian law, and court 
rulings in their work. Washington has already done this regarding 
Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik, and just recently, Nikola 
Spiric, a member of Bosnia's House of Representatives. However, the 
scope should be expanded, and European capitals need to join us in this 
regard.
  Senior U.S. officials, as well as Members of Congress, should make 
Sarajevo a priority. I hope more of our Members will visit Bosnia and 
increase our visibility, demonstrate our continued commitment, and 
enhance our understanding.
  Bosnia may not be ready to join NATO, but its Membership Action Plan 
should be activated without further delay. As soon as this year's 
elections are over in Bosnia, the international community should 
encourage the quick formation of new parliaments and governments at all 
levels, followed immediately by vigorous reform efforts that eliminate 
the discrimination in the criteria for certain offices, ensure that law 
enforcement more effectively serves and protects all residents, and end 
the corruption in healthcare and so many other violent areas of daily 
life.
  Our policy must shift back to an impetus on universal principles of 
individual human rights and citizen-based government. Indeed, the 
privileges Dayton accorded to the three main ethnic groups are not 
rights but privileges that should not be upheld at the expense of 
genuine democracy and individual rights.
  We, in my view, have been far too fatalistic about accepting in 
Bosnia what we are not willing to accept anywhere else. We also 
underestimate what Bosnians might find acceptable, and we should be 
encouraging them to support leaders based on credentials, positions, 
and personal integrity, not based on ethnicity. There should no longer 
be a reason why a Bosniak, Serb, or Croat voter should be prohibited by 
law from considering a candidate of another ethnicity or a multiethnic 
political party. All candidates and parties would do well to seek votes 
from those not belonging to a single ethnic group. This may take time 
and perhaps some effort, but it should happen sooner rather than later.
  Let me conclude by asserting that greater engagement is in the 
interest of the United States--the economic interest and the national 
security interest. Our country is credited with Bosnia's preservation 
after the country was almost destroyed by aggression, ethnic cleansing, 
and genocide. Thank God our country was there for Bosnia.

  Our adversaries--notably, but not exclusively, Russia--would like 
nothing more than to make an American effort fail in the end, and they 
would ensure that its repercussions are felt elsewhere around the 
globe.
  Current trends in Bosnia make the country an easier entry point for 
extremism in Europe, including Islamic extremism. If we wait for 
discrimination and ethnic tensions to explode again, our engagement 
will then become a moral imperative at significantly greater cost.
  The people of Bosnia, like their neighbors throughout the Balkans, 
know they are in Europe but consider the United States their most 
trusted friend, their most honest friend. They want our presence and 
engagement, and given the tragedies they have experienced, they have 
earned our support and friendship.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.
  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, today I want to talk about some of the 
positive steps the U.S. Senate is about to take in pushing back 
against----
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, if the Senator will yield for 1 
minute, I would like to make a unanimous consent request that at the 
conclusion of Senator Portman's remarks, I be recognized, and that at 
the conclusion of my remarks, Senator Smith be recognized.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there an objection?
  Mr. PORTMAN. There is no objection.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Portman.

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