The High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) held an inaugural press conference in Sarajevo yesterday, where he spoke about how he sees BiH and what he will do to develop the country for a better life for all citizens.
“As a politician, you are not always happy every day when you read what is written in the newspaper, but in a free country, it is normal to comment. Sometimes you like it. It is important to have a good working relationship, maybe a little more than good. It is your responsibility to inform people and it is just as important as our responsibility to steer the future towards development, ” he stated at the beginning.
Also, he explained that he has a feeling that too much time is being spent on the past, on building narratives about the dramatic past.
“I know the history and situation is difficult, but it is something that was not started by the victims of the 1990s. People have suffered injustice before and that includes the failure of Europeans, and even my predecessors, to make good assessments of the situation in the Balkans. How do I see things? I am not here because of my narrative, but to be an honest mediator and to understand in the 21st century that it is necessary to see history, to respect it, and especially the victims and of course no matter what nationality, what heritage. Every victim must be mourned. We need to conclude what we will do in the future to prevent such situations. That is our task,” he told.
Schmidt emphasized that every war crime must be sanctioned, regardless of who committed them.
“We are talking about individual guilt and one can never talk about the collective guilt of the people. As a German, I know very well what I am talking about. There is no reason to glorify convicted war criminals. Sometimes you don’t have to look at facts, but reactions to the facts,” he added.
He also commented on the U.S.
“We can say that the United States (U.S.) has returned to the European Union (EU) and the Western Balkans. We thank President Joe Biden for that. He understands the situation in the Balkans very well, and we cannot say that for everyone. Also,Great Britain, regardless of Brexit, is committed to stickingtogether with the international community in BiH. You can absolutely count on London, as well as other European capitals, and countries such as Canada, Turkey, Japan, and Russia,” he said.
In the end, he noted that nothing can be resolved if there is no readiness to talk.
“My offer to everyone in BiH is that as long as there are requests to talk, I will be ready. Sometimes I can help people start talking if they haven’t already, to ease the situation. BiH will not become a centralized state, but its functionality must be improved. The state must become a unifying element, it cannot and must not be a threat to any entity or canton, but a unique and unifying element. I will upgrade the entities for the state to function. It is important to have good work and development for all. We must strengthen unity, focus on common points, not differences. I want us to focus on good times, ” he concluded, Klix.ba writes.
E.Dz.
