The Peace Implementation Council (PIC) failed to appoint a high representative, and the United States of America and the European Union clashed not only over the name, but also over the jurisdiction – said the president of the Association of Independent Intellectuals “Circle 99” Adil Kulenović at the press conference before today’s session on the topic “The USA and Europe are breaking up over BiH – and where is the voice of the citizens?”.
“Nominally, the USA wants a high representative who will deal with state property, because without that there is no Southern Interconnection. But our concern concerns the model of that solution, which, due to pragmatism, could call into question the territorial integrity and completeness of the state. Even more than a doubt: will today’s energy dependence depend on Russia and Serbia, and tomorrow on America and Croatia? America’s refusal to build modern nations is the reason for our greatest suspicion,” said Kulenović.
He believes that the EU wants to preserve European influence, and “the loss of OHR means the loss of leverage”.
“For us and more than that. Europe is not only our natural soil, it is also the way out of a captive state and a collapsed society. Our six demands are not mere wishes, but assumptions for a realistic path from Dayton to Brussels,” said Kulenović.
Diplomat and publicist Fuad Đidić said that it is entirely possible that the new high representative will not be elected at the next session of the PIC.
According to him, the disagreements between the USA and the countries of the European Union, that is, the E3 community, are not formal, they are of a strategic and geopolitical nature.
“Time is too short to smooth out such deep differences. The EU shows its readiness to take matters into its own hands. France, Germany and Britain, the E3 countries, showed a well-coordinated performance in Sarajevo at the last session of the PIC. With their unique positions, they increased the pressure on the USA,” assesses Đidić.
He added that the E3 countries, especially after the Summit in Tivat on June 5, will not so easily change their positions regarding the fate of the OHR in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Azra Zornić, the appellant before the European Court of Human Rights, believes that the state property of Bosnia and Herzegovina remains one of the most difficult political issues.
“Although the Constitutional Court said that the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the owner of this property, the entities and other levels of government continue to use it. They can only do this according to a law that must be adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which should clearly state who owns what and what can be done with that property, and how entities and other levels of government can dispose of it and use it exclusively on the basis of a law that clearly delimits what is whose property, what is possession, what is use, what is disposal,” she said.
“She added that, while we are struggling with internal reforms, external factors are in conflict.
The rift between Washington and Brussels is becoming more and more obvious, and their conflicts about the future of the OHR are again, to our detriment, reflected over the backs of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Zornić believes.
She points out that international representatives must come to an agreement and give up maximalist positions.
“The United States sees Bosnia as a key point for suppressing foreign interests such as those from Russia and China, so they insist on a strong OHR that, according to their logic, will “take matters into their own hands” and stop the state’s decline, without caring too much about formal sovereignty. On the other hand, Europe conducts its own calculation, fearing that too strong an action will cause open conflict and instability on its borders, so it prefers diplomatic compromises and a “softer” approach, even if it means that the process actually freezes. These geopolitical games of the West, in which the outcome is more important than the people, can be disastrous for us,” warned Zornić.
Member of “Circle 99” Sahudin Kačar said that Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a country of projects. It is a continuity of 1000 years of existence.
“Also, it is a historical and cultural continuity that the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina need to express in their own way and be a voice that will be heard, together with these voices that are heard from European and American capitals where today the status of the OHR and the high representative who, according to the role that belongs to him according to the Dayton Peace Agreement, should remove the barriers so that Bosnia and Herzegovina finally becomes an equal member of the EU with civic orientations, which we want with all our being to join,” said Kačar, Federalna writes.
