At the conclusion of his mandate, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina and European Union Special Representative Ambassador Peter Sorensen held a farewell press conference on 28 October at the EU Info Centre in Sarajevo.

The Ambassador underlined that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a European country and that it belongs inside the European Union. „It is a country that belongs inside the EU; it is a country that belongs together with us. To get there, there are a number of things that need to be worked on and that’s what we’ve been doing for the past three years,” he said. Summarizing his activities, Ambassador Sorensen said that together with institutions, political parties, civil society and social partners, the media has played a vital role in advancing the work of EU integration together with the Delegation/EUSR.

He also gave a big thank you to, as he said, the dedicated and competent staff with whom he worked over the past three years.

“We are one of the largest Delegations of the EU. This could be seen in our demonstration of solidarity when the floods hit. Never before has the European Union reacted with such speed and effectiveness. It is simply unprecedented,” the Ambassador said.

Commenting on the recent elections in BiH, Ambassador Sorensen pointed out that independent opinion polls showed that 87 percent of citizens believe that, in this election campaign, politicians did not address issues close to ordinary people. In addition, 78 percent of citizens consider economic issues as most relevant, yet the campaign did not address these issues in much depth.

„That is not good because that means there is a disconnect that needs to be tackled. And addressing such issues is, of course, among the tasks that I leave my successor to work on. But more importantly, these tasks need to be addressed by the incoming government,” he emphasised.

Answering a journalist’s question on his successor, Ambassador Sorensen said: „The timing is good for me to take my leave. Someone new will take my place and will be working with a new government with a new mandate. All involved will share the tasks ahead. But tasks that are easier to handle because now – compared to three years ago – we know what needs to be done, we know what to expect, we know where we can be of assistance and that is what we are there to do,” he concluded.