High Representative Christian Schmidt told the German media that Milorad Dodik “crossed the red line” by attacking the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“A red line has been crossed with the attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Schmidt told Deutschlandfunk (DLF).
The High Representative said that Dodik is once again trying to use the unpredictable international situation with Ukraine and with the American position, in order to push his agenda.
“Milorad Dodik has been trying his luck for years and is trying to change the laws in order to enable Republika Srpska to secede,” said Schmidt.
He blames the general situation in the Republika Srpska on insufficient investment of strength in the reconciliation process, which has only been partially initiated in the last 30 years.
“The political class, especially people around Dodik, saw that it is easier to score points with citizens with a nationalist-ethnic approach to the debate than with arguments for reconciliation,” Schmidt said in an interview with DLF, reports Deutsche Welle.
He also pointed out the need to clearly let the authorities in Belgrade know that there are no red lines being crossed, especially when it comes to the territorial integrity of BiH. “This means that Dodik from Belgrade must not receive support in that direction”.
As long as there is no noise, we think everything is fine
Schmidt also criticized the intensity of the relationship between the European Union and Germany towards Bosnia and Herzegovina, which, according to him, is based on the principle of reacting to crises.
“For so long as nothing has been heard from Southeast Europe, the feeling has spread that things are somehow going their own way. That was a mistake. In the last 10-15 years, things have been going in one particular direction in Republika Srpska. We have relied too much on the assumption: oh, they all want to go to Europe and somehow they will find a common language. That is a very short-sighted approach”, Schmidt concluded.
Regarding the change of administration in Washington, he emphasized that the positive signal from the US is that, when it comes to the territorial integrity of BiH, nothing must change. This was also demonstrated by the reaction of the new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who sent a warning to the authorities in Banja Luka.
“I think that the current situation in BiH can be resolved, but it requires action at a high level because the citizens have trust in us and believe that we will prevent escalation,” Schmidt concluded, Klix.ba writes.
