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On June 6 in Vilnius, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis held a meeting with High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Valentin Inzko and discussed international community’s support for Euro-Atlantic aspirations of this Balkan country and its efforts to ensure stability. “Focused effort of the international community helps to achieve the designated goal:  after two decades of exhausting war security, stability and prosperity were re-established and consolidated in Bosnia and Herzegovina,”  Ažubalis said.

He noted that the contribution of the High Representative of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina to reaching this goal was remarkable, first of all, in ensuring the implementation of civilian aspects of the Dayton Peace Agreement and the rule of law, and monitoring the activities of state institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

During the meeting, Ažubalis and Inzko discussed recent developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s domestic policy, the progress that was achieved in the process of European integration, and the country’s future development challenges.

Inzko presented activities and priorities of the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and reviewed the main provisions of the report on the implementation of the peace agreement in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was presented to the UN Security Council in May.

Even though recently Bosnia and Herzegovina has made a tangible progress in establishing stability and security, integrating into the European Union, this country still needs international community’s support.

Established in 1996, the Office of the High Representative is an ad hoc international institution responsible for overseeing the implementation of civilian aspects of the Dayton Peace Agreement. The position of High Representative was created under the general framework of the Dayton Peace Agreement. The Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council, which was set up after the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1955 and comprises 55 countries, selects the candidate for the UN Security Council. Lithuania enjoys the status of the Peace Implementation Council observer.

From the very start of the peace process, one of the main goals of the High Representative was to ensure an appropriate functioning of governmental institutions and the implementation of the rule of law. Currently, Austrian diplomat Inzko is appointed as already the seventh High Representative and EU Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.