The biggest mistake within the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the Bosnian war when it was reached 24 years ago on this day, is that it gave the two semi-autonomous entities within the country too strong competencies, one of the US diplomats who participated in the negotiations, James Pardew, told N1 on Thursday.

Pardew has actively participated in peacebuilding in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1995 and 2008. He negotiated face to face with late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, and was one of the authors of the 2001 Ohrid Framework Agreement – a peace deal between North Macedonia and its ethnic Albanian representatives.

In the interview, the US diplomat warned of the role Serbia and Russia are playing in Bosnia’s Republika Srpska (RS) region, but also said that all big powers want to influence the Balkans and that Bosnia should resist such attempts.

No political leader in Bosnia is any more or less responsible than any other for the current situation the country is in, he said, arguing that it is the citizens who should have the responsibility to punish the work of their political representatives.

The full interview can be seen in the video above.