The Office of the High Representative (OHR) clarified the position of High Representative Christian Schmidt, after his statements, made during an appearance on a TV show last weekend, caused controversy.
In his statement, Schmidt seemingly put convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic on the same level with the first president of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (RBiH), Alija Izetbegovic, which caused numerous reactions, Klix.ba writes.
The OHR states that the high representative’s criticism of history textbooks for the 9th grade of elementary schools in the Republika Srpska (RS) is fully justified. In the aforementioned textbook, in the lesson entitled “RS and the defensive-patriotic war”, Alija Izetbegovic is depicted in a way that Schmidt considers controversial.
“Ratko Mladic is a convicted war criminal and responsible for the genocide in Srebrenica. Alija Izetbegovic, on the other hand, was a key figure in achieving peace and the Dayton Peace Agreement, and with his actions he saved many lives,” according to the OHR.
OHR strongly rejected claims that Schmidt deliberately equated Izetbegovic with Mladic, calling them “malicious and wrong”. The office emphasizes that these claims are completely unfounded and that they are against the goal that Schmidt wants to achieve in cooperation with domestic institutions. Schmidt’s goal is to remove biased parts of school textbooks, which would prevent further divisions among students of different ethnic communities, as stated in the recent decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH.
To recall, during a TV interview, speaking about education and history textbooks in BiH, the high representative said, among other things: “If we see Mladic and Alija Izetbegovic, that is unacceptable. Why are you posting those pictures? Give these children the opportunity to learn and make their own decisions”.
