This blog post was published under the 2015 to 2024 Conservative government

Avatar photo

Edward Ferguson

British Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia

7th August 2017

Na odmoru u Bosni i Hercegovini

Obično ljeti idemo u Ujedinjeno Kraljevstvo, da se vidimo sa porodicom i prijateljima.  Ali, ovo će nam biti zadnje cijelo ljeto u Bosni i Hercegovini jer se moj mandat završava u avgustu iduće godine.  Zbog toga smo ove godine odlučiti odvojiti vrijeme da otkrijemo nove dijelove ove prelijepe zemlje i da posjetimo neke favorite od ranije.

U junu smo nekoliko dana proveli u Unsko-sanskom kantonu.  Na putu tamo, stali smo u istorijskom gradu Jajcu.  Taj grad mi je jedno od najdražih mjesta u BiH.  Bivši glavni grad Kraljevine Bosne, sa svojom prelijepom srednjovjekovnom tvrđavom koja je bila dom zadnjem bosanskom kralju, Stjepanu Tomaševiću.  Danas, Jajce je jednako poznato i zbog svog vodopada, na mjestu gdje se Pliva susreće sa Vrbasom, i kao grad domaćin drugog zasjedanja AVNOJ-a, 29.11.1943. godine kada je donesena odluka da se Jugoslavija uspostavi na federativnim principima.  Noć smo proveli u vikendici i gledali kako krijesnice plešu na obalama Plivskog jezera.

Nakon toga smo krenuli na sjever, da otkrivamo dragulj zvani Nacionalni park Una.  Zahvaljujući sjajnom timu u Kiro Rafting, nas svih petero, uključujući i moju jednogodišnju kćerku, smo otišli na rafting i plivali u živopisno zelenoj Uni, možda najljepšoj rijeci koju sam ikad vidio.  Rimljani su bili u pravu što su je nazvali “jedina”.  Proveli smo se sjajno, kao porodica – kampovali smo na obalama potoka i istraživali okolinu, uključujući i moćni vodopad Štrbački buk.

Prošle sedmice uzeo sam još nekoliko slobodnih dana.  Napravili smo spisak mjesta koje želimo vidjeti i posjetiti.  Prije svega, ponovo smo otišli na Treskavicu.  Peli smo se na nju i ranije, ali ovaj put smo pola puta prešli u Ladi sa 4×4 pogonom, što je iskustvo samo za sebe.  Zbog toga smo imali više vremena da istražujemo vrh planine.  Planinarili smo oko četiri jezera na Treskavici i u jednom čak i plivali.

Naredni dan su naši prijatelji Amel i Arijana Mekić i njihova kćerka Tajra pozvali cijelu porodicu na Jablaničko jezero.  Divno smo se proveli, hvatali smo žabe i plivali u jezeru, skakali sa broda.  Nije nas odbilo ni to što smo dijelili jezero sa prilično impresivnim vodenim zmijama (uvjerili su me da nisu otrovne!). Kao što smo to često zaključili u BiH, gostoprimstvo naših domaćina nije imalo granica.  Dan je završio pečenjem cijelog janjeta.  Balkanski raj!

Veći dio te sedmice proveli smo u i oko Sarajeva.  To je uključivalo velike količine sladoleda na Baščaršiji, a ja sam ispunio najvažniji cilj te sedmice, a to je da skinem pomoćne točkove sa bicikala moje dvoje starije djece.  Također smo uspjeli popeti se na vrh Trebevića sa našim tronogim jorkširskim terijerom, i cijela porodica je išla na piknik na vrhu Čavljaka.

Zadnji izlet je bio u Višegrad, da vidimo poznati most Ive Andrića, most na Drini.  Vožnja je bila prelijepa, prvo preko platoa Romanije, a onda južno kroz predivne riječne klance.  Nismo se pokajali, ljepota mosta je podsjetnik bogate i ponekad tragične istorije ove zemlje.

Nažalost, BiH ne koristi uvijek ono što ima na najbolji način.  Putevi su očigledan problem.  Početkom godine, vozili smo se od BiH do Grčke, preko Crne Gore i Albanije, a vratili se preko Makedonije i Srbije.  Na osnovu ove “nenaučne” studije duge 2500km, mogu izjaviti da BiH ima najljepše krajolike, ali i daleko najgore puteve u regionu.  U svakoj zemlji koju smo posjetili, osim u BiH, vidjeli smo da su u toku veliki projekti izgradnje.  Neshvatljivo mi je da se političari u ovoj zemlji ne mogu dogovoriti čak ni puteve da poprave.

Ono što sam primjetio je da su ljudi ovdje iznenađeni kad im kažemo da smo ostali ovdje za odmor.  A ne shvatam zašto.  Mi smo zaista uživali u otkrivanju Bosne i Hercegovine.  Uvijek me iznova iznenadi činjenica da, skoro iza svakog ćoška, otkrijemo tvrđavu, manastir, džamiju koju treba pogledati ili spektakularnu planinu, jezero ili rijeku u kojoj treba uživati.  Putovanje kroz ovu zemlju je bio samo podsjetnik njenog ogromnog potencijala, kao i velikodušnosti njenih ljudi.  Nakon nekoliko mjeseci ispunjenih frustracijama, dobro se podsjetiti zbog čega i za šta radimo.

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.