UN Security Council Session: Resolution of Russia and China on the Abolition of OHR in BiH without Support

With two votes in favor and 13 abstentions, the United Nations Security Council rejected a China-Russia resolution calling for the abolition of the Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A session was held in New York tonight to discuss the situation in BiH.

Russia previously asked the Council to hold a vote today on a draft resolution calling for the closure of the Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, BHRT writes.

The draft resolution was distributed to UN Security Council members by Russia and China.

The brief draft resolution, which the Associated Press had access to, states that the powers given to the High Representative "are no longer needed given the progress made by the parties in BiH."

"We do not want to support the text that undermines the Dayton Peace Agreement and the decisions of the PIC Steering Board, so we abstained from voting," said Richard M. Mills, the US Deputy Representative to the UN.

He recalled that all members of the PIC Steering Board, except Russia, supported the decision to appoint Christian Schmidt. He underlined that the conditions for closing the Office, which were clearly defined in 2008, have not yet been met.

“There are still divisions that prevent this,” Mills said.

Russia's representative to the Security Council, Dmitry Poljanski, said he regretted that the Security Council had not adopted the resolution.

"We want to warn our colleagues in the Council not to take further destructive steps and continue to support the illegitimate candidate for the post of High Representative, as this will further complicate the internal situation in BiH and thus jeopardize what the international community has achieved in recent years." said Poljanski.
The Chinese representative also said he regretted that the draft resolution had not been adopted.

We remind you that 5 + 2 conditions and goals were set for the abolition of the OHR in BiH in 2008, including the distribution of property between the state and other levels of government, a solution for military property, implementation of the Final Decision for Brcko District, fiscal sustainability of BiH, and the rule of law.