The High Representative of the international community in Bosnia, Christian Schmidt, submitted his regular semi-annual report to the UN Security Council (UNSC) on the status of peace implementation in BiH, stressing that the presence of EUFOR in the country “remains indispensable” and “continues to play a vital role in safeguarding peace and security.

According to a statement by the Office of the High Representative (OHR), Schmidt’s latest report, which covers the period from April to October of this year, highlights “the dominance of the General Elections and the pre-election campaign on the political scene” and that that political parties and institutions focused on the preparation and set up of the elections, “though unfortunately partly by calling into question the conduct of elections and blocking electoral financing.”

Schmidt outlined two goals for this period – to guarantee that the elections take place in BiH and to ensure that the will of the voters is implemented after the elections.

The High Representative noted that he took a series of decisions to meet these goals. On June 7, he introduced a package of decisions to enable the financing of the 2022 General Elections.

“Without this intervention, it would not have been possible to prepare for and conduct the General Elections on 2 October,” the statement said.

Schmidt also explained why he believes it was necessary to enact amendments to the BiH Election Law in order to “bring it more in line with international standards and good practices.”

“The High Representative’s intervention on 27 July was designed to improve election transparency. This decision gave the BiH Central Election Commission the means to sanction violations of the rules of conduct in the election campaign,” the statement said.

Schmidt further noted that “for several months political parties engaged in a dialogue on electoral reform aiming at unblocking political deadlocks” in the Bosnia’s Federation (FBiH) entity.

“In view of the failure of this process and given the high risk that the formation of institutions after the elections would once again be blocked, the High Representative reported on enacting, on 2nd October, the Federation Functionality Package. This package contains a set of measures that allows the rapid establishment of legislative, executive, and judicial bodies after the elections,” the statement said.

Schmidt stressed in his report that, during the election campaign, “the political debate focused on personalities and their affiliations and less on political platforms.”

He noted that, in BiH’s In Republika Srpska (RS) entity, the ruling Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) “created an atmosphere in which government critics and opposition politicians were often labelled as traitors.”

Schmidt added that the pre-election campaign in the other entity, FBiH, was “comparably quiet, although polarization between political opponents’ positions increased.”

As for the economy, the report states that the preliminary indicators for 2022 show some positive trends, although they “do not necessarily imply an improved level of economic and social development.”

“The registered unemployment level is close to 30 percent, while the share of unemployed youth in total unemployment is over 18 percent. Due to high inflation, the average salary and pension are significantly below the average price of the basket of goods, suggesting that even those with steady incomes struggle to make ends meet,” the statement said.

“Given the political situation, the High Representative recommends increased engagement by the international community to ensure full compliance with the General Framework Agreement for Peace and to allow for critical reforms. In this regard, the report says that EUFOR-ALTHEA continues to play a vital role in safeguarding peace and security in Bosnia and Herzegovina and that its presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina remains indispensable,” it said.