“Great Britain is keeping up with that story about the High Representative because it can’t pass as such anywhere else, so it is being forced here in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Dodik said.
“Who are we cooperating with, where are we headed, where the hell are we going?” asked the SNSD President, Milorad Dodik, while commenting on the work of the Peace Implementation Council, the High Representative, and the appointment announcements regarding the new first man of the international administration to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Dodik harshly criticized PIC, claiming that such a council “does not exist”, and that it is an ad hoc formed group of countries.
“That council does not even exist. It is an ad hoc formed group of countries which have been for years destabilizing Bosnia and Herzegovina. All the decisions by that Peace Implementation Council were against the long-term stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Dodik said.
“They are the Thieves of Rights”
Dodik claimed that the PIC MPs are “usurpers” and “thieves of the rights of constituent peoples.”
“They are usurpers; they are the thieves of the rights of constituent peoples and the highest institutions at the global level, the UN Security Council, which prescribes the appointment of the High Representative in Annex 10,” Dodik said,
According to his interpretation, the foreign signatories of Annex 10 choose the High Representative, who is ultimately appointed by the UN Security Council.
“It means that foreign signatories of the Annex 10 elect the High Representative as their representative, who is in the end appointed by the Security Council. This stands in Annex 10,” he said.
Dodik claims that the procedure is undermined.
“They violated all of it, they took everything away from us. They are the thieves who can’t and shouldn’t manage us,” he said.
Attack on Soreca and the European Union
Dodik criticized the boss of the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Luigi Soreca, accusing him of “lying about the rule of law.”
“Bosnia and Herzegovina is based on fear from foreigners’ action through the Peace Implementation Council and a lying Soreca, who lies every day. Whenever he opens his mouth, he lies about the rule of law, and they are inviting us to the European Union that lies,” Dodik said.
He then asked the question about further cooperation with international actors.
“Who are we cooperating with, where are we heading, where the hell are we going?”, Dodik asked.
“What Peace Implementation Council?”
Dodik challenged the position of the acting High Representative.
“What Peace Implementation Council? Does Annex 10 state that there is an acting High Representative? Is that written anywhere?” he asked.
He maintained the same tone, denying that he would stay silent.
“Why are you making us fools? I will not be made a fool. I will speak about it, if I can’t do anything else,” Dodik said.
He particularly reflected on Great Britain’s role in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Great Britain is keeping the story about the High Representative because it can’t pass anywhere else as such, so it is being forced here in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he said.
Dodik: Expel British Officials from Bosnia and Herzegovina
Dodik then sent one of the harshest messages to the British officials.
“There are China and Russia; why are you dealing with us? Every British official should be expelled from Bosnia and Herzegovina for the harm they have caused us here. If I could, I would do it. Of course I can’t. But at least in Republika Srpska, I will see how it plays out,” Dodik said.
He recalled the previous case involving the German official who, as he said, was prevented from acting in Republika Srpska.
“Just like that advisor to the minister from Germany fared,” he added.
Russia Won’t Recognise Crishock
To recall, the Russian Federation refused to recognize the US Diplomat Louis Crishock as the head of the international administration in Bosnia and Herzegovina, who was recently appointed as the acting High Representative.
Moscow believes it was conducted illegally.
The spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, said on Sunday, in response to questions from the Federal press agency, that the Dayton Peace Agreement does not include the position of the acting High Representative.
“Attempts of the Western officials in the steering board of the Peace Implementation Council to present Mr. Louis Crishock as the acting High Representative have no legal grounds,” Zakharova confirmed. She reiterated Russia’s stance that such authorities can belong to the High Representative whose candidacy is approved by the UN Security Council.
“The so-called acting High Representative does not possess any powers under the terms of the Dayton Agreement,” Zakharova said,
Dispute around the Bonn Powers
The Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council has recently appointed the US Diplomat Louis J. Crishock as the acting High Representative following Christian Schmidt’s departure.
Until then, Crishock was the Principal Deputy High Representative.
Russia froze its PIC participation back in 2021, following Schmidt’s appointment, as it considered the process was illegal.
Crishock stated in a media appearance last week that he possesses Bonn powers, including the authority to impose decisions and remove officials.
Russia has the opposite view.
“So-called Bonn Powers violate all regulations by the Dayton Peace Agreement. The term of the High Representative is strictly limited by Annex 10 of the Dayton Peace Agreement, according to which the High Representative does not possess extraordinary powers,” Zakharova said.
Moscow clearly stated that the Office of the High Representative should be closed as soon as possible.
New Attempts at the Agreement
The US and European countries have not agreed who will succeed Schmidt as the head of the international administration in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This should be discussed again at the PIC session on Tuesday, July 14.
Some EU Member States oppose the appointment of the US favorite, Italian diplomat Antonio Zanardi Landi, as the High Representative. France nominated René Troccaz.
The Danish Diplomat Peter Sørensen, the current EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, previously led the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“We will discuss the Western Balkans and the new High Representative and the process happening around that,” stated the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and UN Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, ahead of Monday’s meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
Crishock As a Temporary Solution
At the Session of the PIC Steering Board on June 30th, the US Diplomat Louis J. Crishock was appointed as the acting High Representative, the first Deputy High Representative and Brčko supervisor.
He should remain in that position until the PIC Member States reach an agreement about who will be the new High Representative.
At the previous meetings of the PIC Steering Board, held on June 4th and 30th, there was no consensus on Schmidt’s successor.
The US insisted on the Italian Diplomat Antonio Zanardi Landi, supported by Italy, while France and Great Britain, supported by the Germans, sought that the new High Representative be the French diplomat René Troccaz.
EU High Representative Kaja Kallas and later the Head of the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Luigi Soreca, announced that a new High Representative should be elected on July 14 and that Crishock’s appointment is a temporary measure.
OHR and the “5+2” Agenda
“There is no change in the EU’s stance when it comes to the mandate of the Office of the High Representative. This office is not foreseen as a permanent category, but rather it should move toward its closure,” Soreca previously stated, adding that the fastest way to close the OHR is the accelerated progress in the EU path.
Regardless of whether the PIC Steering Board will appoint the new High Representative to Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday, after assigning Crishock as an acting High Representative, it was emphasized that he will “fully ensure the institutional continuity of the position, legal security regarding all decisions made by the previous high representatives, and that he will act under the political leadership of PIC.”
It means that previous decisions by the former High Representatives remain in force, including Schmidt’s imposed amendments to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Based on those amendments, Dodik was finally sentenced by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to a ban on holding public office for six years for failing to implement the High Representative’s decisions.
The instrument of Bonn Powers also remains,which enables the High Representative to impose binding laws and decisions to overcome deadlocks and accelerate the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement.
Agreement on Downsizing the OHR
According to a Beta source from the intelligence community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the meeting between the French president Emmanuel Macron and the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, held on June 25 in Antibes, it was decided that for the next two years the Italian will head the OHR, and he will be succeeded by the French for another two years.
In the meantime, a document submitted by Italy to the partners in PIC was published, and it included Rome’s vision about the future of the OHR in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to that document, the gradual downsizing of the OHR is noted, while the Bonn Powers are mentioned as the last resort when all others have been exhausted.
It was also announced that the new High Representative will not annul the decisions of his predecessors, while the length of the OHR mandate will still depend on meeting the “5+2” Agenda, meaning that the OHR could remain in Bosnia and Herzegovina for years.
The “5+2” agenda contains a list of goals and conditions which the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina must meet before closing the OHR and assuming full sovereignty.
The program was defined by the PIC’s Steering Board in 2008, and the goals include the state property issue and full implementation of the Arbitral Award for Brčko District.
One of the conditions foresees that the OHR will not be closed until the PIC’s Steering Board makes a positive assessment of the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which implies full respect for the Dayton Peace Agreement.
