In an interview with N1, High Representative in BiH Christian Schmidt spoke about the situation in the country, the Election Law but also his relation with the BiH citizens with whom he said he often takes selfies.

“That's my ‘selfie’ factor. So many people come up to me and ask to take a selfie. In the Republika Srpska (RS) entity, the selfie factor is no less than in other parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Sometimes people from the RS call me and want to apologize, I tell them that they don't have to apologize because it's not their fault how someone behaves. People say hello to me, even the police and they didn't arrest me, yet,” Schmidt said, hinting at the time when RS President Milorad Dodik said he should be arrested if he stepped foot in the Serb-dominated entity.

He then touched upon the recent ultimatum to the politicians in which he said they have a week to start amending the BiH Election Law. If not, he said he will impose his changes in the coming weeks.

“I am quite optimistic that the relevant institutions and the government will make [the necessary] decisions. I said what I said and I stand by it. My criterion is not whether I will like this or that, but we must have appropriate regulations so that voters can vote better than it has been so far. I didn't mention any specific date, I said three or four weeks,” the High Representative said in an interview with N1. “Some of us now have a holiday break. These days the BiH Parliament was in session and passed several laws. We've been working on this (Election Law) for 15 years; Choices must be unique and equal everywhere. We had discussions in Neum, and mentioned several options.”

He then recalled that last year he amended Bosnia’s Election Law “over the Government’s inability, in this case it was the then Minister of Finance, to provide money for the printing of election ballots. I ordered that decision and I didn’t hear that anyone in the BiH Presidency was against it,” Schmidt said.

The High Representative confirmed the Office of the High Representative has the support of EUFOR, the Armed Forces of BiH, and noted that the fight against crime must be much stronger in BiH.

“For the EU, I have decided to do something else for the next year. NATO will monitor the development of the situation, I hear from them from time to time and we also talk through EUFOR.”

Schmidt was then asked if he would annul the announced RS Law on Immunity if it finally gets adopted.

“The law is in discussion and they must know that these immunity regulations must be observed within the complete framework. The EU will give its opinion and it must be assumed that this cannot prevent non-compliance with the law. That can't happen even to American presidents,” he stressed.

Milorad Dodik’s defence team said earlier they would call Schmidt to testify as a witness in a trial against the RS President for non-compliance with the High Representative’s decision in that entity. Schmidt said he doubted they would go ahead and call him to testify. By this logic, the defence would have to call the UN Secretary-General to testify, as well, for commenting on BiH Presidency member Zeljka Cvijanovic’s letter to this institution.

“I am a lawyer by profession. I know a bit about that trade. I strongly doubt the wisdom of the defence strategy and I have one thing to say: The bigger and more expensive the lawyers defending someone, the louder they are, the less credibility they have”.

N1’s Amir Zukic noted that the defence would ask him to show a paper proving he was elected legally, to which he said:
“Sometimes, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, so much nonsense is said in one place – in one day.”

He was then asked to comment on the organization of the January 9, the Unconstitutional Day of the Republika Srpska.

“I can draw your attention to the fact that I have amended the Criminal Code [of BiH] so that a public office holder engaging in unconstitutional celebrations – is liable to a criminal offence. Anyone can hold a party, but as a public official, he must not hold a public event that excludes another group of people. If it is a celebration of the Serbs, he then forgets that there are also Croats and Bosniaks living there,” Schmidt concluded.