UN Security Council to apply "lessons learned in past," crucial: Bosnia official

Haris Silajdzic, chairman of the collective Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), stressed here to the UN Security Council how "crucial it is that the lessons learned in the past are applied accordingly."

"We should live up to the expectations and send a unanimous message that that we commit ourselves to developing the means to fulfill this responsibility," Silajdzic said here at a Security Council Summit on the role of the world body in maintaining international peace and security.

The summit was held on the sidelines of the general debate of the UN General Assembly, which opened here on Thursday morning.

"I cannot stress enough how crucial it is that the lessons learned in the past are applied accordingly," he said.

By imposing and maintaining the arms embargo on BiH in the past, the Security Council "added to the overwhelming military advantage of Milosevic's regime," Silajdzic said.

"Some powerful members of this Council justified this course at the time by arguing that the lifting of the embargo would add oil to the fire," he said.

Bringing up the genocide in Srebrenica, he noted that "we cannot bring back the dead, but we can give dignity and justice to the survivors."

"What we say today is not aimed at the past, but at the future, " Silajdzic said.

With post-conflict peace-building operations, he noted that although all relevant national and international actions should be involved in the process, it is important to consider the political will of the host country.

"The peace building process is primarily a national responsibility of post-conflict countries," Silajdzic said.

With issues of peace and security "inseparable," it is important the Security Council "must meet the expectations and fulfill the hopes of millions of those in need throughout the world," Silajdzic said.

Source: Xinhua