Russian Embassy to BiH said Thursday that Christian Schmidt's appointment for High Representative in BiH is a flagrant violation of the established practice of electing the High Representative in BiH via consensus.

“Given that the situation in BiH is under the supervision of the UN Security Council in the context of Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the Office of the High Representative must leave the issue of appointing the new High Representative to the UN Security Council. No nominee without the approval of the UN Security Council will have the necessary international legal legitimacy and will not be able to be considered a High Representative in terms of the Dayton Peace Agreement,” the Russian Embassy in BiH said in a statement.

They called on their partners to once again assess the consequences of their “non-consensus and illegitimate actions that could have a destabilizing effect on the already difficult situation in BiH.”

The Office of the High Representative said Thursday that the Ambassadors of the Peace Implementation Council voted in favour of Christian Schmidt's appointment to the position currently occupied by Austrian diplomat Valentin Inzko who resigned the post. They added that the Russian Embassy was against Schmidt's appointment.