High Representative Christian Schmidt met today with the President of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jovan Kalaba, with whom he discussed preparations for the 2026 General Elections.
They exchanged opinions on the application of election technologies in the election process and how important it is to ensure that every vote is counted correctly and accurately.
“Free, fair and credible elections remain the basis of trust in democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said High Representative Schmidt.
“OHR will continue to support free and fair elections even after I leave office. The policy remains the same,” said the high representative, it was reported from the OHR.
In the previous days, the meeting of the Steering Committee of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) was announced for June 30, at which a new high representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina should be elected.
However, the Office of the High Representative (OHR) said that only a regular meeting of the ambassadors of the member states will be held today, and therefore diplomatic consultations on the choice of Christian Schmidt’s successor continue.
The Office of the Spokesperson of the European Union said in a statement to Fena that the EU continues to work closely with its partners to elect the next high representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, who will represent unity and consensus among the partners, stressing that the candidate should come from the European Union and embody BiH’s aspirations towards EU membership.
At the last session of the PIC Board of Directors, held on June 3 and 4 in Sarajevo, no agreement was reached on the election of a new high representative for BiH, who should replace Christian Schmidt.
In May 2026, Schmidt resigned from the position of High Representative and informed the PIC Management Board about it, requesting the initiation of the procedure for the selection of his successor.
At the same time, he announced that he will remain in office until the appointment of a new high representative in order to ensure the continuity of the OHR’s work.
