The Delegation of the European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the embassies of EU member states that are members of the Peace Enforcement Council in BiH issued a joint press release today in which they pointed out that the new high international representative in that country should be from one of the EU countries. Stating that Bosnia and Herzegovina has applied for EU membership, diplomats from the EU Delegation, as well as the ambassadors of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, pointed out that it is precisely this basic commitment of Bosnia and Herzegovina that dictates the need for a European diplomat to head the Office of the High Representative (OHR).
“In the light of this basic determination, the EU members within the PIC Board of Directors believe that the new high representative, in accordance with the current practice, should come from an EU member state,” the announcement states. When it comes to the election process itself, the diplomatic representatives of the EU emphasized that they are fully committed to the appointment of the successor of the outgoing High Representative Christian Schmidt, adding that the end of this process should be at the end of June.
They further emphasized the importance of cooperation with the United States of America (USA) and other international partners within the PIC Board of Directors, stating that “the European bloc remains determined to continue working with its partners on harmonizing and converging positions on the new candidate”. They assessed that the priority is “to find a person who will act as a truly integrative factor on the political scene of Bosnia and Herzegovina”.
“We are determined to bring closer the views on a candidate who is able to cooperate with all actors in the implementation of the mandate of the high representative, including domestic actors. We continue intensive consultations in the coming days and are ready to meet again with our partners within the Board of Directors to finalize the appointment process soon,” the announcement reads.
In the end, they pointed out that the EU remains “firmly and unquestionably committed to the stability, security and territorial integrity of BiH, as well as its safe path to full membership in the EU”.
At the session of the PIC, held on June 3 and 4 in Sarajevo, no new high representative was appointed, after the German Christian Schmidt resigned from that position. At the session, there was a discussion about two candidates, the Italian diplomat Antonio Zanardi Landi and the French diplomat Rene Troccaza.
Landia was proposed by Italy with the support of the United States of America, while Troccaza was proposed by France, with the support of Germany and Great Britain.
