Last year’s changes to the Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, imposed by High Representative Christian Schmidt, entered into force on Tuesday.

On April 27, 2023, Schmidt made the final decision to unblock the appointment of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“Before I do that I want to say a few things. The guiding principle that I follow is the principle of what is best for all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Not in part against any people or any party. A lot has happened in the past three weeks, but nothing has changed,” Schmidt said then, addressing the press.

He then added:

“During that period, only one copy of the Government's proposal was delivered to me, but that proposal did not have the support of both Vice-Presidents of the FBiH Government. We must emphasize that the composition must be in accordance with the Constitution. In the meantime, I have not seen an official or unofficial proposal. Additionally, there was a lot of activity and discussion, but no progress was made. What we see in action is a political deadlock, and it is not a conflict of constructive peoples. The will of voters in elections must not be ignored. That is the essence of democracy, respecting the will of citizens. For this reason, I made a decision to unblock the appointment of the FBiH Government. With this decision, I want to end the existing law and enable the House of Representatives to fulfil its constitutional duty and vote on the appointment and election of the new FBiH Government. I made the decision because the Constitution does not give us a complete answer when we find ourselves in this situation,” Schmidt said and called on all political parties to work on finding a solution.”

The Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina also warned at the end of April about the deadline by which the authorities in the Federation of BiH should pass a decision for the smooth appointment of the FBiH Government.

“Almost a year after the adoption of the Decision unblocking the appointment of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, High Representative Christian Schmidt recalled that, based on his decision of April 27, 2023, amendment CXXXI to the Constitution of the Federation will enter into force on May 1, without the need for the adoption of an additional normative act to ensure its legal effect”, the OHR said at the time.