The Ambassador of the Russian Federation to BiH, Igor Kalabuhov, stated that with the departure of Christian Schmidt, the time has come to close the OHR, and that after that, domestic actors should agree on priorities for the development of BiH.
Kalabuhov announced that Russia’s position on Bosnia and Herzegovina would be presented at today’s session of the UN Security Council, and emphasized that positions must be crystallized and that the OHR with all its powers cannot exist indefinitely.
“There is also a kind of paradox and contradiction here, and that is that there is no question of the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina while the OHR is present,” said the Russian ambassador.
He also spoke about some theses prepared for today’s session of the Security Council, which state that “the situation in BiH has worsened.”
“The question is whether such a narrative is being deliberately created for the continued existence of the OHR, or are the people who worked in the OHR so unqualified that they led to such a situation,” said Kalabuhov.
He believes that after 30 years of the OHR’s existence, one could have expected them to do everything they needed to and for BiH to end up with an “international protectorate”.
He claims that during Schmidt’s time, there was destabilization within the international community and the political situation in BiH, and that Russia warned about this five years ago when Schmidt was appointed.
Kalabuhov also stated that Russia never recognized Schmidt as the High Representative, nor was it interested in what he said and did.
Responding to the question of whether the Russian side would participate in the appointment of the future High Representative, Kalabuhov said that there might be some negotiations within the international community.
“We’ll see what happens, but the basic procedure is known – according to the Dayton Agreement, the PIC Steering Board can only nominate a candidate, but the Security Council has the final say, which must approve the candidacy,” Kalabuhov said.
He concluded that conditions no longer need to be set for the closure of the OHR, and that political representatives in BiH must agree on their own priorities for the development of BiH.
