The German government yesterday appointed politician Manuel Sarrazin as Germany’s special envoy for the Western Balkans.
Although Germany has previously been significantly involved in the Western Balkans events, with the arrival of the new government and after the Greens took over the position of the German Foreign Ministry, Germany wants to increase its influence on the processes in the Western Balkans.
On this occasion, Sarrazin will also be the first man to take this position, given that it did not even exist in the work of the former German governments.
It is unknown at this time whether Sarrazin will be involved in monitoring and implementing the so-called the Berlin Process or the German government is planning a much broader political role for this official in the Western Balkans, and especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
Namely, Manuel Sarrazin is a member of the German Green Party and was a member of the Bundestag from 2008 to 2021. He also actively participated in the work of the Committee on European Affairs and the Committee on Foreign Affairs and was a spokesman for the parliamentary group for Eastern European policy.
To recall, a few days ago, the German-BiH network Pangea called on the German government to appoint a special representative for the Western Balkans, with a special focus on BiH, in order to ensure peace.
They pointed out that such a special representative, together with the elected representative of the United Kingdom (UK), Sir Stuart Peach, would coordinate the common German-British policy in BiH.
Sarrazin has spoken on several occasions before about the situation in BiH. Among other things, in an interview with Deutsche Welle in May 2021, he emphasized the importance of a coordinated German-French policy for the Western Balkans and strongly opposed the change of borders in the region.
“Solutions must not contribute to the tightening of ethnic demarcation lines. And this must be a criterion that should be explicitly formulated, for example, in the negotiations on electoral law reform in BiH. Brussels and European capitals will have to measure each solution according to whether it leads toless ethnic segregation or has the opposite effect, “ Sarrazin explained.
E.Dz.
Source: Klix.ba
