The Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United Nations, Zlatko Lagumdžija, spoke about the diplomatic battles in New York, the announced departure of the High Representative Christian Schmidt, and the fierce political turmoil in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In an interview on TVSA, Lagumdžija specifically referred to the announcements about the departure of Christian Schmidt from the position of high representative, stressing that they have been working on this for three years, but that the key goal of the official Banja Luka and Moscow has not been achieved.
“Dodik announced from Moscow, three days before the Security Council session, that Schmidt would be dismissed, the OHR institution abolished, and his decisions annulled – which should have meant the annulment of the law under which he was a convicted criminal. He lost. We worked on it and it didn’t happen,” said Lagumdžija.
He announced that Bosnia and Herzegovina will get a new high representative in the next month, and Italian diplomat Antonio Zanardi Landi is still considered the most certain candidate.
“The most important battle was to preserve the institution of the high representative, that he answer to the Peace Implementation Council (PIC), and not be subject to verification and blackmail within the Security Council. Schmidt is leaving by submitting a report to the PIC and the PIC will appoint a new one,” explained Lagumdžija.
Commenting on the frequent accusations and attacks on the chairman of the BiH Presidency, Denis Bećirović, from the circles of the SDA and their partners, Lagumdžija said that this is pure pre-election populism and hypocrisy.
Attacking Bećirović because of Sabina Ćudić’s statements or the opening of the Gradiška border crossing, according to him, is completely absurd.
“They are attacking him because he voted for Borjana Krišto as the chairperson of the Council of Ministers. Well, that is a constitutional obligation and a democratic culture because she had a parliamentary majority. What was the alternative? That Zoran Tegeltija should remain in the technical mandate for another four years and that Bisera Turković should remain as minister? Let me remind you that during their mandate, Bosniaks did not make an official visit to Washington for 12 years, and for three years we did not have a Bosniak diplomat in the number two position in the USA because Dodikov ruled there a private tennis teacher,” said Lagumdžija.
