The Embassy of the Russian Federation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) explained in a statement why they did not attend the two-day session of political directors of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) member states, reiterating their non-recognition of Christian Schmidt as the United Nations (UN) High Representative (HR) appointed by the UN Security Council.
As they stressed, they intend to draw attention to the fact that the Office of the High Representative (OHR) itself confirms the correctness of their arguments since the conclusions regarding the independent annual audit report approved by the PIC on November 26th directly states that “PIC proposes a candidate for the position of HR. The UN Security Council, which approved the Dayton Peace Agreement and the deployment of an international military contingent in BiH, approves the mentionedcandidacy. “
They think that the reason for the internal political crisis in BiH is “the subjective decisions of former HR Valentin Inzko and the refusal of PIC partners to follow the procedure for appointing a new HR.”
According to them, the proposed communiqué contains a distortion of the content of the Dayton Peace Agreement, which is why they are considered forced to remind that BiH, according to Dayton, does not include, but consists of two entities.
”We start from the fact that all issues in BiH should be solved exclusively through dialogue between BiH parties on the basis of mutually acceptable compromises. This also applies to BiH’s foreign policy priorities, including Euro-Atlantic integration, on which there is no consensus in the country. We insist that the mandate of the PIC within Dayton does not imply securing BiH’s membership in NATO, ” they believe.
The Russian Federation, as one of the witnesses of Dayton, stands for the territorial integrity and real sovereignty of BiH, as the Embassy stated, adding that in order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to close the OHR as soon as possible since it has become a brake the path of democratic development of BiH and transfer all responsibility for the situation in the country on BiH citizens.
E.Dz.
Source: Federalna
