This blog post was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

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Edward Ferguson

British Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia

9th October 2014

Izbori: traži se liderstvo i umjerenost

Nedavno sam posjetio Srebrenicu sa grupom posjetilaca koji su došli u sklopu projekata koji podržava Vlada Ujedinjenog Kraljevstva a koji ima za cilj da se nauče i primjene lekcije iz jedinog genocida koji se desio u Evropi nakon Drugog svjetskog rata kako bi poboljšali odnose između različitih zajednica u UK.

Tokom ove posjete, sastao sam se sa majkama koje su izgubile muževe, sinove i članove šire porodice u tom masakru. Očekivao sam da će me potresti njihove priče o gubitku i tako je i bilo. Ali, šta me je najviše šokiralo je to što sam čuo da, čak i danas, 20 godina poslije, one žive u strahu.

Sedmicu prije moje posjete, otvorena je pravoslavna crkva na brdu blizu Memorijalnog centra u Potočarima. Na dan otvorenja, mala grupa mladića je bučno paradirala kroz Srebrenicu noseći četnička obilježja i slike Mladića i Karadžića. Majke su bile previše uplašene i da izađu iz kuća. Nema ništa muški snažno niti herojski u činu uznemiravanja starica koje žive same.

Ali, šta te majke plaši više od idiotskog ponašanja ovih mladih ljudi je politički govor koji neki političari koriste tokom predizborne kampanje. Umjesto predstavljanja pozitivne i konstruktivne vizije budućnosti Bosne i Hercegovine prevelik broj političara govori samo o podjelama i nepovjerenju i koristi etničku i nacionalističku retoriku koja previše podsjeća na rane devedesete. To često rade kako bi prikrili sopstvene neuspjehe. Sa ponovnim prisustvom takvog govora, da li uopšte čudi što građane brine pojava izbornih slogan koji se fokusiraju na jedinstvo, snagu i pobjedu. Pobjedu nad kim tačno?

Ponekad izgleda da neke od nacionalnih stranaka iz svih glavnih etničkih grupa kao da se nisu uopšte pomakle od rata. Kao novajlija u Bosni i Hercegovini, ali sa iskustvom iz mnogih manje razvijenih dijelova svijeta, nikad nisam vidio takvu nezrelost u politici. Jasno je iz svih istraživanja šta izborno tijelo želi: ekonomski razvoj, sigurna radna mjesta, bolje obrazovanje i zdravstvenu zaštitu. A, bez obzira na to, neke stranke se jedva dotiču ovih pitanja i radije ohrabruju kulturu straha koja povećava broj glasova za njih, te zanemaruju politički, ekonomski i socijalni razvoj. Time zanemaruju i budućnost onih koje tvrde da predstavljaju.

Poenta pisanja ovog bloga nije da kažem građanima u ovoj zemlji za koga će glasati. To je u potpunosti njihova odluka a Britanska vlada će poštovati rezultate. Spremni smo podržati bilo koga ko je spreman da konstruktivno radi nakon izbora kako bi se sprovele reforme koje trebaju ovoj zemlji. Ali, u ovom momentu, iskreno govoreći, teško je vidjeti odakle će doći ovo novo rukovodstvo i ideje jer je rasprava namjerno obojena sramotnim, jeftinim političkim trikovima – posebno onim kojima se zloupotrebljavaju vjerski simboli ili institucije.

Na kraju, volio bih vidjeti kako građani BiH – Bošnjaci, Hrvati, Srbi ili ostali, vrše pritisak na svoje političke predstavnike da se ponašaju i govore umjerenije, jer je trenutno ponašanje pogubno za međunarodni imidž zemlje, odbija investitore i potencijalne saveznike. Ali, prije svega, u ovoj zemlji postoji veliki broj osjetljivih kategorija ljudi – povratnika iz svih etničkih skupina. Političari, kao ljudska bića, bi trebali učiniti sve što je u njihovoj moći kako bi se te kategorije ljudi osjećale ugodno i sigurno. To bi bio čin stvarnog političkog vođstva. Neprihvatljivo je da današnje rasprave ponovo uznemiravaju one koji su toliko propatili prije 20 godina.

About Edward Ferguson

Edward Ferguson took over as His Majesty’s Ambassador to Serbia in July 2023. Before coming to Belgrade, Edward served as the Minister Counsellor Defence at the British Embassy in Washington…

Edward Ferguson took over as His Majesty’s Ambassador to Serbia in July 2023. Before coming to Belgrade, Edward served as the Minister Counsellor Defence at the British Embassy in Washington DC in September 2018. Together with the Defence Attaché, he led the British Defence Staff (United States), a network of 1,000 people spread across 28 States. As the UK’s senior policy adviser on defence relations with the United States, he was responsible for UK-US collaboration on strategic planning, nuclear policy and programmes, trade and acquisition, and science and technology. He was the US Network’s lead on HMG’s Integrated Review and AUKUS, and the senior champion for the Race, Ethnic and Cultural Heritage Group.

Previously, he served as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2014 to 2018, where he created and led a new international strategy, co-launched by the British and German Foreign Ministers, that re-energised Euro-Atlantic integration after years of stagnation while stimulating economic growth and reducing high levels of youth unemployment.

A former Exhibitioner and Choral Scholar of Trinity College, Oxford, where he was also Treasurer of the Oxford Union, Edward graduated with First Class Honours in Classics in 2001. Joining the Graduate Fast Stream of the Ministry of Defence, he started out in the Naval Staff before joining the Iraq Secretariat during the build-up to and subsequent execution of Operation TELIC. In 2003, he was involved in financial and requirement scrutiny of the Department’s future helicopter procurement programme.

From 2004 to 2006, he managed a national award-winning £300-million programme to consolidate the MOD estate in Greater London and to redevelop RAF Northolt. In 2006, he volunteered for an operational tour, serving as Political Advisor to a British Battlegroup in Maysaan Province, Iraq (while his brother was a troop leader with the British Army in Basra). On his return, he took on responsibility for the strategic management of the UK’s bilateral defence relations with the United States, Canada and Western Europe.

From 2007 to 2009, he worked as Private Secretary to three Defence Secretaries, acting as their closest adviser on issues relating to operations in Iraq, the £6-billion defence equipment programme, science & technology, counter-terrorism and counter-piracy.

In 2009, he was appointed the Head of Afghanistan and Pakistan Policy, responsible for advice to the National Security Council on the policy, financial, legal, parliamentary and presentational aspects of the UK military contribution to operations in Afghanistan, and on the long-term defence role and interests in Pakistan.

From 2011 to 2014, he was Head of Defence Strategy and Priorities, leading two teams, one responsible for leading the MOD’s contribution to developing the 2015 National Security Strategy and the Strategic Defence and Security Review, and the other for prioritising the MOD’s international defence engagement activities. In 2013, he graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science with an MSc with Distinction in Strategy and Diplomacy. He has been a member of the RCDS Strategic Advisory Panel, a member of the US Air Force Grand Strategy Advisory Board, and is a graduate of the PINNACLE Command and Staff course.

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