Three former high representatives in Bosnia warned EU’s Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Representative against “border correction” between Kosovo and Serbia and its reflections on Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Carl Bildt, Paddy Ashdown and Christian Schwarz Schilling who server as international community’s high representatives whose function was to oversee the civilian implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the war in Bosnia (1992-1995) said that redrawing of borders between Kosovo and Serbia could lead to instability in Bosnia.
“As former High Representatives for Bosnia and Herzegovina, we are deeply concerned by announcements made recently by high-level officials of the European Union, suggesting that the EU may be willing to support an agreement between Presidents Vucic and Thaci that involves the transfer of territory between Serbia and Kosovo through ‘border corrections’.”
The three former high representatives said they know the region well enough to know that moving borders like this will not solve divisions, it will only deepen them. Although there can be no comparison between the case of Kosovo and the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, they claim to know the western Balkans well enough to know that such a policy would be misused by nationalist politicians to further challenge borders and destabilize other countries in the region.
“We know Bosnia and Herzegovina well enough to know that this will give comfort and support to those who would break up the country, who are already calling for a return to the status quo ante in Dayton, unravelling all we and our Bosnian partners have worked for over more than two decades,” they stressed. “We know the EU and Europe well enough to know that our principles and our bloody history teach us that sustainable peace can only come when we learn to live in multi-ethnic communities, rather than redrawing borders to create mono-ethnic ones.”
“We can, in short, think of no policy more likely to lead us back to division and conflict in the Balkans than the one which some are apparently now supporting.”
They added that they had little doubt that this would risk destabilising current agreements, such as in Macedonia, it would risk undermining the unity of states such as Bosnia, encourage those who wish to see exchange of territory elsewhere, such as in Ukraine and it is likely to lead to the exodus of minorities from their existing communities.
“We, therefore, urge you to ensure that these proposals are dropped without delay,” concluded high representatives for Bosnia and Herzegovina Carl Bildt (1995-1997), Paddy Ashdown (2002-2006), Christian Schwarz-Schilling (2006-2007).
