The Russian Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Igor Kalabukhov, stated that Republika Srpska has the complete right to act as if the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina currently does not exist and assessed that the reason for the legal process against the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, is absurd.
“They accuse Dodik of not respecting decisions imposed by a private person who is not the High Representative and, as such, lacks the appropriate competencies. Additionally, the President of the Republic represents the electoral will of the majority of citizens, and his trial for opposing foreign dictation is a literal violation of the Constitution of Republika Srpska,” emphasized the Russian ambassador in an interview with SRNA.
When asked if there is a mechanism to challenge Christian Schmidt’s role, given that he created additional problems in BiH without a UN Security Council resolution as the High Representative, Kalabukhov noted that, for now, from a legal point of view, there is no High Representative in BiH, and his function is vacant.
“In existing legal documents from Dayton, including the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) conferences, including the Bonn Conference in 1997, there are no mentions of any restrictions or legal mechanisms for the dismissal of the High Representative from his function. It is assumed that this can be done by the consensus decision of all PIC members,” said the Russian ambassador.
Kalabukhov assessed that there is a case of a literal self-proclaimed usurpation of power in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Considering that all critical situations were thoroughly discussed through official reports in the UN Security Council, including reports from the High Representative himself, I believe that the UN Security Council is the only institution that can respond to the emerging situation,” the Russian ambassador stated.
However, Kalabukhov pointed out that the problem is that representatives of the collective West are arrogantly pursuing their interests in this body, ignoring legal norms.
Asked whether the Office of the High Representative (OHR) justifies its existence in BiH after showing bias in making many decisions since its establishment, the Russian ambassador said that Russia’s position on this issue has long been known.
“From our point of view, the procedures for appointing the High Representative have been violated several times. Firstly, Christian Schmidt’s candidacy was not agreed upon by consensus in the PIC Steering Board, as it had been for 25 years, nor was it accepted by all three constituent peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina ,” Kalabukhov explained.
He highlighted that there is also a contradiction with Annex 10 of the Dayton Agreement, as Schmidt’s candidacy was not approved by a UN Security Council resolution, the body responsible for overseeing the situation in BiH.
“The relevant resolution offered by Russia and China on July 22, 2021, was arrogantly rejected by Western PIC members. Since then, the High Representative’s function has remained unexercised, while the PIC is acting entirely illegitimately as a group of individual ambassadors who have no right to advise, let alone impose anything on the people of BiH,” stressed the Russian ambassador.
Kalabukhov also highlighted that the Office of the High Representative (OHR) has entirely distorted the purpose of the so-called Bonn powers. He reminded us that initially, they were supposed to be used as a tool to remove non-cooperative politicians and develop temporary state mechanisms until all three constituent peoples agreed.
“However, that never happened, and we see that the Bonn powers are being used not only for temporary laws but for the entire structure of state administration, for which there was never any consensus in the country,” warned Kalabukhov.
Overall, he stated that the OHR has become an anachronism and should be closed. He concluded that the future of BiH lies in the hands of its citizens and that the Dayton Agreement serves as the basis for the country’s development as a place of three equal peoples and two entities.
Source: RTRS
