Dear Madam President, I am addressing you on behalf of the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska, regarding the behaviour of the German citizen, Mr Christian Schmidt, and his status in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The letter is transmitted in its entirety:
“Dear Madam President,
I am addressing you on behalf of the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska, regarding the behaviour of the German citizen, Mr Christian Schmidt, and his status in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
1. As is known, the Republic of Srpska signed a peace treaty with several states, including the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This agreement, initialed on November 21, 1995 and signed on December 14 of the same year is known as the “Dayton Peace Agreement” (attached as part of this letter)
2. The Dayton Peace Agreement ended the dark period in the area and stabilized the region for the past 28 years. All this time, the Republic of Srpska has been fighting for compliance with the aforementioned agreement as well as for maintaining its legal framework. In this regard, we are unpleasantly surprised by the attempts of a German citizen, Mr Schmidt, to interfere in internal relations without any appropriate legal mandate or authority, violate the Dayton Peace Agreement, and cause serious damage to the peoples and entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
3. Accordingly, we would highly appreciate your engagement, which would put an end to this unacceptable interference in internal political relations in our country, as well as to the position of Mr Schmidt, whose attempts to intervene in the judicial system have seriously damaged relations within Bosnia and Herzegovina.
4. As stipulated in the Dayton Peace Agreement (see Annex 10, page 111), the parties turned to the United Nations Security Council (and no one else) to appoint a High Representative to facilitate the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement. Accordingly, six High Representatives were appointed with the consent of the Security Council, the seventh only had consent in the draft that was not adopted, while only one did not receive the consent of the Security Council through a resolution.
5. After the end of the mandate of the last High Representative, Mr Valentin Inzko, in 2021, the appointment of Mr Schmidt was proposed to the UN Security Council and was rejected. Yet, what is even more incredible, knowing that he had not been appointed and had no authority, Mr Schmidt appeared and presented himself as a High Representative, giving orders and acting as if he were entitled to the position.
6. Aware of the fact that his position is not even needed, Mr Schmidt announced that he considers himself the last High Representative. With an audacity that could be compared to “après moi, le déluge”, he intentionally went one step further and committed a criminal offence, that is, he imposed amendments to the Criminal Code of BiH, which is the exclusive competence of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH. This action is in crucial inconsistency with the signed Dayton Peace Agreement, and Mr Schmidt has shown that he does not care about the future implications of his brutal actions towards the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
7. At this moment, Mr Schmidt focused his efforts on persecuting the elected President of the Republic of Srpska. He encouraged the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina to initiate criminal proceedings and prosecute the President of the Republic of Srpska. In other words, a foreigner, in this case a German citizen, who illegally seeks unlimited power to govern BiH, is acting against legally elected and appointed officials who were simply performing formal activities that they were supposed to perform by law.
8. This procedure represents an unacceptable attack on the sovereignty and democratic constitutional order of BiH and the rejection of the rule of law, and it needs to be stopped immediately.
9. Mr Schmidt’s previous behaviour and clumsy handling of sensitive issues – even if he was appointed High Representative – shows again and again that he has no real experience related to relations in the Western Balkans, nor diplomatic knowledge, skills or sensitivity to the difficult history of BiH. Even in the capacity in which he presented himself, Mr Schmidt did not prove to be a mediator in solving crises, on the contrary, he repeatedly produced them himself. Precisely because of this, the prevailing opinion of the public is that Mr Schmidt is harming and destabilizing Bosnia and Herzegovina.
10. For more than seven decades, your country has established an exemplary tradition of democracy and human rights, practised in Germany and promoted abroad. Not at all in line with that tradition, Mr Schmidt abused democracy and human rights in a European country, endangering the stability of the entire Balkan region with his irresponsible actions.
11. I am convinced that as the elected President of the Bundestag, you understand the seriousness of this situation and its implications. I would also point out that ignoring and exceeding the will of the people, the unauthorized and destructive actions of Mr Schmidt could cause serious and extreme reactions in our very delicate and fragile region.
12. Also, the members of the other two constituent nations clearly expressed their opposition to Mr Schmidt’s actions through their protests, that is, the statements of their highest officials. Furthermore, Mr Schmidt’s attempts, while holding high office in his country, to rehabilitate the pilot of the infamous Condor Legion, during the bombing of which thousands of civilians were killed in Spain alone, and for which the pilot received the highest Nazi decorations, for the Serbs and the citizens of the Republic of Srpska in general, who suffered the most from the Nazi and Ustasha occupation, it should be more than enough reason to disqualify Mr Schmidt from holding any official function.
13. Dear President, recalling your speech during the commemoration of the victims of National Socialism, we believe that under no circumstances should Mr Schmidt hold an official position, especially in the areas where Serbs live. Prejudices created over the years against the Serbian people are particularly painful and difficult to bear, but this has never prevented the Serbian people from standing behind the policy that they believe defends their dignity and guarantees their safety.
14. Sharing common human, cultural and civilizational ideals, the Republic of Srpska highly values strong relations with Germany, especially on the democratic and economic levels. The Republic of Srpska contributes more than 41% of the BiH economy, which is fundamentally linked to Germany, where half a million Serbs live as loyal citizens who contribute to German society.
15. Considering the seriousness of the situation and the potentially negative repercussions, I urge you to return Mr Christian Schmidt back to Germany as soon as possible.
In the hope that you will consider our request as soon as possible, I thank you in advance and greet you warmly.
Dr. Nenad Stevandić
President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska
