The High Representative in BiH, Christian Schmidt, addressed the session of the UN Security Council Tuesday, where he presented his annual report on the situation in BiH.
The report states that the authorities in Bosnia’s Republika Srpska (RS) entity continue to undermine the institutions of BiH and that the RS President, Milorad Dodik, is “poisoning the political climate in that entity and the entire country.”
“The events in the RS are not usual. Their positioning and the leadership of this entity have intensified. Dodik openly calls for independence and speaks publicly about the fact that the RS will join Serbia. This is not in accordance with the Dayton Agreement. I am concerned about the joint statement of parties from the RS on April 20, which said that the entities are the owners of state property and that they do not want a law at the state level, thus contesting it,” Schmidt said.
“They called for the suspension of the High Representative, they call for judges from the RS to withdraw from the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, they call for the establishment of a police unit that would monitor the demarcation line. None of that is consistent with Dayton.”
Schmidt adds that there is little progress in the adoption of 5+2 Agenda.
“Little progress has been made in the adoption of 5+2 Ageda, BiH is facing significant challenges related to state and military property and the rule of law. Inadequate funding prevented institutions from legally fulfilling all their obligations. Building trust is necessary to maintain sustainable peace and progress in BiH. Traumas remain widespread and are often not given attention in BiH due to the lack of institutional resources,” he said.
Genocide denial remains a problem
“The denial of the genocide in Srebrenica and the glorification of war criminals are still a problem. I made changes to the law related to Srebrenica. I am glad that Mostar recently changed the names of the streets that bore the names of Ustasha officials,” Schmidt noted, adding that Grand Mufti Hussein Kavazovic’s statements are heard by many and he noted that there is a lot of insecurity and many people do not feel safe in Bosnia.
“The leader of the Islamic community personally experienced attacks and humiliation during the war and I really appreciate when he talks about reconciliation and peace. We in the international community must renew the promise we made to BiH in 1995: Never again,” Schmidt concluded.
