Briton Takes Over as Bosnia Envoy
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SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — British politician Paddy Ashdown on Monday took over as the top international peace envoy in Bosnia-Herzegovina with a pledge to tackle crime and create jobs in the ethnically divided and impoverished Balkan country.
“Bosnia and Herzegovina is more at risk from criminality and corruption than an immediate return to nationalist conflict,” he said in a speech to Bosnia’s parliament.
Ashdown, a former leader of Britain’s Liberal Democratic Party who became deeply involved in the Balkans during the wars of the 1990s, takes over from Austrian diplomat Wolfgang Petritsch.
At a brief ceremony marking the hand-over, Ashdown said his task would be to build on the foundations laid by Petritsch during his three-year tenure.
He is the fourth international high representative to Bosnia-Herzegovina since the conflict ended in 1995, charged with implementation of the Dayton, Ohio, peace treaty.
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