The High Representative of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina reacted to claims that he is planning to hand over state military property to the country’s Republika Srpska (RS) entity, saying that such locations "must be directly registered under the ownership of the state of BiH."

The Office of the High Representative (OHR), the institution overseeing the civilian implementation of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement in BiH, noted that state and defence property remain among the requirements outlined in the 5+2 Agenda, a set of requirements that must be met prior to the closure of the OHR. Therefore, the OHR said it is engaged in reaching an acceptable and sustainable resolution of these issues.

“When it comes to the immovable military property that will serve future defence purposes (the prospective defence property), all legal acts needed to complete this objective are in place and such defence property locations must be directly registered under the ownership of the state of BiH. This is an urgent task for the newly elected authorities in BiH,” the OHR statement said.

“Regarding state property, the implementation of Constitutional Court judgements is still pending. Resolving this issue requires the enactment of state-level legislation by the BiH Parliamentary Assembly. The OHR continues to follow closely and plans to engage with all levels of authority on this issue when governments are formed,” it added.

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— OHR BiH (@OHR_BiH) October 21, 2022

The claim that High Representative, Christian Schmidt, plans to use his Bonn Powers to make such a decision came from political scientist Jasmin Mujanovic.

“I've just had direct confirmation from a high-level European source that OHR (Office of the High Representative) will shortly use its Bonn Powers to hand over Bosnian state military sites to Russian-backed secessionist authorities in RS entity,” Mujanovic wrote on Twitter, adding that Schmidt is in Belgrade discussing details with the regime of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

He warned that such a decision would violate a ruling by the BiH Constitutional Court.

“It is difficult to overstate how destructive such a policy would be to the security and sovereignty of the Bosnian state. The OHR would in one fell swoop be violating Bosnia's court rulings, empowering a Russian-backed secessionist and likely ending Bosnia's NATO path,” Mujanovic stressed.

I've just had direct confirmation from a high-level European source that @OHR_BiH will shortly use its Bonn Powers to hand over Bosnian state military sites to Russian-backed secessionist authorities in RS entity. Schmidt is in Belgrade today confirming details w/ Vucic regime.

— Jasmin Mujanović (@JasminMuj) October 20, 2022