The UN is not a signatory of the peace agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina nor it is a member of the Peace Implementation Council, the only relevant body to appoint a High Representative, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in response to Serb member of Bosnia's tripartite Presidency Zeljka Cvijanovic, who asked for documentation on the appointment of Christian Schmidt, the current peace envoy for BiH.

Cvijanovic is the Serb member of Bosnia's Presidency and is elected in Republika Srpska entity, a Serb-majority region, whose general position is that Schmidt is not legitimate High Representative, since he was not confirmed at the UN Security Council.

Last week, Cvijanovic addressed Guterres, demanding the delivery of documents relevant for BiH i.e. the decision on the appointment of Schmidt in accordance with the Annex 10 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH i.e. the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement.

“After a detailed search of the UN Security Council documents available in its online database, we managed to find only one document related to Schmidt's appointment. It refers to the minutes of the meeting of the UN Security Council 8823, held on Thursday, July 22, 2021 at 3:00 p.m., which shows that the only draft resolution submitted for voting (number S/2021/667) was not adopted, since the vote result was two votes in favour and 13 abstentions,” Cvijanovic wrote in the note.

Guterres replied through the Mission of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the UN, explaining that the “UN is not a signatory of the Dayton Agreement nor it is a member of the Peace Implementation Council – the only relevant body for the appointment of a high international representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

Twitter

The response also reads that all the official documents of the UN Security Council are available on the UN Official Documentation System.

Guterres said that the UN remains committed to supporting BiH on its path to sustainable peace and development.

“We hope that we will continue the cooperation with all elements in the country towards that goal,” he added.

The Ambassadors of the PIC Steering Board formally appointed Christian Schmidt as the next High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, following his candidature put forward by Germany, the Office of the High Representative reported in late May 2021.