High Representative Christian Schmidt said last night at a forum in the German city of Königswinter that, in his opinion, nothing significant will change with the arrival of the new American administration of Republican Donald Trump, especially since there was an opportunity to see the results of his policies in his first term.
Namely, a forum was held in the city of Königswinter last night, organized by the Deutsche Atlantiche Gesselschaft, which dealt with the incoming Trump administration and its implications for Europe.
At the beginning of his lecture, Schmidt referred to his appointment as High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina and that it was actually Angela Merkel’s idea. As he pointedly mentioned, he was her choice for this position due to the specificity of the task and the fact that he was her trusted man, and he regrets that this is not in her memoirs.
In his opinion, Trump is not a happy solution and he hoped for a victory for Harris. He believes that Trump is treating Germany and the whole of Europe as competition and expects an increase in tariffs for imports into the United States for the automotive industry, as well as other branches of industry, which will cause considerable problems for Germany.
Nedim Makarević, a long-time ambassador of BiH to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iceland and Norway, was also present as the plenipotentiary for the Western Balkans of the FDP of Germany, and he asked Schmidt a public question about the concrete consequences for BiH in Trump’s upcoming term.
Schmidt replied that in his opinion nothing significant will change, especially since there was an opportunity to see the results of his policies in his first term.
They also discussed various scenarios of possible conflicts as well as Russian influence in the Western Balkans, but especially in BiH, that is, RS.
Finally, he touched on the problem of the “Sejdić and Finci” verdict and emphasized that this must be resolved and that he will make his full contribution to this.
He also mentioned the issue of the legitimate representative of the Croatian member of the Presidency of BiH without going into details, briefly mentioning that there are two different views on the issue.
When asked about foreign influences in BiH, he focused mostly on Russia, because he considers it a serious matter.
Russia’s role is significant in Serbia, but also in the RS, and we must pay attention to the development of the situation. However, according to him, there is no influence of Muslim countries, or targeted Arab influence in BiH in a negative (political) sense.
First of all, the focus is on tourism and smaller investments.
Schmidt is the current president of the Deutsche-Atlantische Gesellschaft, Fena writes.