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It is my very great honor and even pleasure to welcome all of you today to this Seminar on the OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security. It is particularly pleasing to me because, as you probably know, this is not our effort alone but rather a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Defence and the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina. That, I think, is exactly how things should be.
During this two day seminar, experts from this same OSCE Mission, from the International Committee of Red Cross, and from the International Institute of Humanitarian Law will discuss the different dimensions of this important document and how it is reflected in the work of their own organizations. You will, I hope, also hear from them explanations of the purpose and intent of the OSCE Code of Conduct. You will also, I hope, be presented with practical suggestions about how you can apply this Code in your daily work.
The participating States of the OSCE, Bosnia and Herzegovina among them, adopted the principles of this Code of Conduct in 1994. It thus became a politically if not legally binding document on each of those participating States, whether they are Bosnia and Herzegovina or the United States of America.
The Code of Conduct has a relatively simple but fundamentally important purpose: It seeks to provide guiding principles for the democratic political oversight of defence, security and intelligence in these countries. Civilian control of the military and its related offshoots is, Im sure I need not remind you one of the fundamental requirements for any successful, fully democratic system of governance.
This is not the first such seminar the OSCE Mission has organized on this topic in this country, either. Between 1998 and 2003 this Mission conducted nineteen such seminars for the military personnel of both entities. But their main purpose was slightly different. It was to encourage the building of greater confidence and thus a sense of security between these two former adversaries.
Thankfully, that is no longer necessary. Thankfully, these former adversaries are now united. Remarkably this country now has but one Ministry of Defence and one Armed Forces Joint Staff. They are now appointing new directors and senior advisors. We in the OSCE therefore felt that it was the right time to introduce a new series of Code of Conduct seminar more attuned to this new era in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This is why I am so pleased to be able to open what is actually the fourth seminar on this topic this year. Together with the Ministry of Security, we have previously organized and conducted three seminars for senior commanders of the police forces and intelligence services earlier this year. It seems only fair that we do the same for the personnel of the Armed Forces. It is, after all, they for whom the Code was primarily developed. We plan to offer a similar event later this year for your expert personnel as well.
I therefore thank you for devoting what I know is precious time, when many important tasks are pressing upon you, in order to be here today. I can assure you that your participation is highly appreciated by all those in the international community who have worked so hard with you over the past few years to make defense reform a reality. I only hope you will find the seminar worth the time you will have devoted to it. I wish you every success, both in this seminar and in your larger and crucial tasks, and I thank you for allowing me to join you here this morning.
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