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Russia demands closure of high representative post in Bosnia / Photo: © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Russia demands closure of high representative post in Bosnia
Russia on Tuesday called for the immediate closure of the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia the day after German diplomat Christian Schmidt resigned from the post.
Schmidt had held the powerful position, established by the Dayton Peace Accords, since 2021.
"We demand that Western countries cease their intervention in the domestic affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina," Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said at a Security Council meeting on the situation in the Balkan nation.
"We insist on the immediate closure of the OHR," he said. "It is past time for them to gain genuine sovereignty and independence."
Nebenzia said the departure of Schmidt, whom his country never recognized, was a "step in the right direction."
Established after the country's 1992–1995 war, which claimed around 100,000 lives and displaced millions, the high representative oversees the implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords that ended the conflict.
In his post, Schmidt also held discretionary powers to overturn laws and remove elected leaders from office.
He announced his resignation Monday after a protracted power struggle with Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik.
Russia never supported Schmidt's appointment and regularly attacked him, accusing him of bias against the Serb entity in Bosnia.
Some media outlets and observers have suggested possible pressure from Washington for Schmidt's departure.
Deputy US Ambassador Tammy Bruce thanked him for his service.
"Christian Schmidt helped establish the institutions for a sovereign Bosnia," she said Tuesday.
"The next high representative's task will be to transfer responsibility for running and maintaining those institutions to local leaders," Bruce said. "One day, there will no longer be a need for such a role."
Bruce also stressed the importance of ensuring that the successor has the "trust of all communities in Bosnia."
The United States will evaluate candidates based on "whether they meet this standard of trust and impartiality," she said, noting that Washington has its "own candidates in mind, if need be."
Schmidt indicated that the question of his succession would be on the agenda of the next meeting of the Peace Implementation Council in early June.
"I plan to depart my post in June," he said.
O.Green--SFF
