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M. Dunovic: Address to World Summit 2017
Written by H.E. Milan Dunovic, Vice President, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Address to World Summit 2017, Seoul, Korea, February 1 to 5, 2017
It is an exceptional honor and pleasure to attend this event, which aims to promote peace, stability and human development around the world. Civilization, which, today more than ever, is faced with threatening and devastating attacks of barbaric ideologies, has a way to defend itself and win.
South Korea, with its capital of Seoul, represents a place with a marvelous history. For decades Korea has been a symbol of the struggle for democracy. Every human being needs and has to live in a modern, prosperous and free society, with the opportunity to express their own values and accomplishments. A society of equal opportunities, with liberal market potential, gender and racial emancipation, adorns only progressive civilizations. South Korea is such a country.
The country where I come from, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the entity whose vice president I am, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, today, more than ever, is faced with numerous challenges. The devastating war, which took many innocent lives, has left permanent consequences between people. Those traumas are deep and rough! We are still seeking a way to heal those wounds and turn to economic development and prosperity. As a broad society, we are confronted with serious systemic forms of corruption and criminality. I believe that the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the whole country, has the power and the means to adopt and implement values of the democratic and systematically organized countries.
We have a very complex constitution, which is an outcome of the Dayton Agreement of 1995, and which primarily had the goal to ending the war and bringing peace to our country. I am grateful that today's generations are growing up far from the suffering and trauma that my generation had to face.
As a politician, I have an obligation to work every day for my people and to help overcome complex systemic problems and eventually to eliminate those problems. Bosnia and Herzegovina is in the heart of Europe; its place has always been and will remain deeply and truly related to European civilization values. I believe that the lives of the citizens of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina can be better, and I am working every day to accomplish it. My obligation, and the obligation of all politicians, is to serve our country. Among other things, that means that the employment rate of young people has to be at a higher level, that corrupt practices of unscrupulous groups and individuals must be prevented and punished. I believe that all attempts to attain economic stability are the patriotic duty of our citizens. Good relations with other countries and keeping the peace represent an imperative for all my actions, and must be for all politicians, both in the federation and across the whole country.
People who live in Bosnia and Herzegovina have different religious, ethnic and cultural beliefs, which are the actual fortune and beauty of my country. These diversities should not divide us; they should be something that we celebrate and glorify. The natural, cultural and intellectual potential of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the whole country, is enormous. Only by investing in these values can my country move toward accession to the European Union. We have the strength and a model to prove that we belong to a democratic society, that we want to be part of the great European family, and that this is the only correct choice.
I am sure that the UPF, as an organization of great importance for democratization and development of countries around the world, can and will help Bosnia and Herzegovina on its way of improvement of those values. South Korea is our true friend, and it is a great country and excellent example to learn from how to celebrate civilization and freedom.
Hon. Milan Dunović, Vice President, Bosnia and Herzegovina
H.E. Milan Dunović is the Vice President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Previously, he worked in the BH Posta (post office) as head of international postal operations. He is a member of the political academy and economic council of the Democratic Front political party. H.E. Dunović is a graduate engineer in traffic and communication.
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