Christian Schmidt, the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, told N1 that without the Office of the High Representative (OHR) and foreign judges in the country’s Constitutional Court, Bosnia would be at risk of conflict and disintegration. He also emphasized that state property belongs to the state of BiH, and that "the working group is discussing the possibility of using the land and how it will be resolved legally."
When asked if Republilka Srpska entity President Milorad Dodik's goal is to force the OHR to do what he wants – to pass a Law on State Property as he sees fit, Schmidt said that this problem has persisted since the end of the war in BiH.
“It is the drama and misery of Bosnia and Herzegovina that this issue has not been resolved for 27 years. The Dayton Peace Agreement did not resolve this issue. According to the Agreement, only the property of the former Yugoslavia was distributed between the former republics. We have public areas and if a local community says they want to build a school, then a way must be found to solve it, it's about the use [of those areas]. I’m very inexperienced, I was the Minister of Agriculture [in Germany]. Together we will find some distribution with the entities and Brcko District.
Does the state remain the owner of the property given for use?
“It is correct that, according to the current situation, state property belongs to the state, and then the working group discusses the possibility of using it and how to resolve it legally. Dodik says that ‘everything in the entity belongs to that entity’. It doesn't work that way and it was never that way anywhere in Europe. It's state land. Since his finances are bad, he only cares about the financial side of the story,” Schmidt responded.
In the conversation with N1, the High Representative was told that many people in BiH are hoping for his departure and that interestingly, many politicians in the Federation (FBiH) entity want the same thing. He was asked what would happen if BiH was left without the OHR and foreign judges in the Constitutional Court of BiH.
“Until Dayton [Peace Agreement] is fully implemented, the OHR and foreign judges must remain in the country. It will remain this way for years to come – until Bosnia is a fully democratic society because there is a threat of conflict and disintegration of BiH,” the High Representative pointed out.
