Bosnia is under attack and there are efforts to destroy it underway, the former international administrator in the country who was chosen for the 'Honorary Citizen of Sarajevo' award this year, Christian Schwarz-Schilling, told Deutsche Welle, warning that "this must be stopped."
As High Representative between 2006 and 2007, Schwarz-Schilling monitored the civilian implementation of Bosnia’s 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement.
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The “honorary citizen” title will be bestowed on Schwarz-Schilling at an official ceremony on April 6 – the day the city celebrates its liberation from German occupation in WWII.
“It makes me very glad and proud, especially because it’s an acknowledgement for my engagement for human rights which began in 1993, when people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, primarily civilians, were being killed and taken to camps resembling concentration camps,” he said.
“It gives me satisfaction that the international community determined that a genocide took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Schwarz-Schilling said, adding that he found out about the concentration camps from the US reporter and Pulitzer, Roy Gutmann.
“I couldn’t let Germany and Europe after the Second World War just silently stand by, watch and do nothing. I argued with Chancellor Helmut Kohl about that and left the government,” he said.
Christian Schwarz Schilling said he is still engaged in Bosnia and is writing a column every month. He said he is simply telling the truth and not playing any political games.
“The danger of extremists and ultra-nationalists undermining the rule of law and democracy is still high and must be curbed so that this country, along with the rest of the Western Balkans, can achieve its goal – enter the EU,” Christian Schwarz-Schilling said.
