High Representative Christian Schmidt discussed the current developments in Bosnia Herzegovina in an extraordinary session with the ambassadors of the Peace Implementation Council Steering Board today and shared his observations. In addition, COMEUFOR, Major General Laszlo Sticz, provided his assessment of the security situation in BiH. The High Representative paid particular attention to the repeated announcements of secession by the Republika Srpska leadership.
“These announcements are sometimes dismissed as political rhetoric. I do not follow this. We are witnessing a political agenda in action that is undermining the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The RS officials would have to explain their critique about Dayton implementation. To secede from the state of BiH is not an option in any case. European integration must not be put into question. But we will have to guarantee the rights of the entities as well, and we are already doing this. Everyone in Bosnia and Herzegovina has the right to live in peace and free from discrimination.
These are the facts: there is no legal right to secession and the entities are not states. Entities only exist because Bosnia and Herzegovina exist. Anyone who questions this is accepting conflict and the International Community will not allow that to happen.
We are monitoring very closely whether and what activities are being undertaken in the Republika Srpska that are likely to disrupt order in the country. The International Community guarantees the existence of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as peace and security of all people in this country. Nobody has the right to endanger this. I take any attempt of destabilization as a severe challenge to the Dayton Peace Agreement.
The people of this country have made strides towards reconciliation and coexistence that no one thought possible thirty years ago. It is clear, therefore, which direction all communities in this country want to take – towards a prosperous future in the European Union. This is what the political elites must deliver,” said the High Representative after the session.