Russia and China did not give their consent for Christian Schmidt to be appointed as high representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The reasons why the Russians opposed were not often mentioned, and they were explained by lawyer Goran Petronijević.
“When Christian Schmidt first appeared at the steering board, Russia reacted and said they had recordings of Schmidt attending a Nazi gathering where, among other things, at a cemetery of Nazi soldiers—his grandfather died as a Luftwaffe pilot over the Soviet Union—he was in a group of Nazis giving salutes with swastikas, with the infamous ‘Heil, sie heil,’ and so on. They said that such a man cannot deal with peace. They officially said that at the steering board of that group. The very fact that the Russians expressed a reservation meant that they would veto if he appeared before the Security Council as a proposal,” Petronijević explained.
Petronijević further explained that Russia and China, in order not to be accused of obstruction, submitted a proposal for a mini-resolution.
“With it, they accepted that Christian Schmidt could serve for one year, but not as high representative, rather as acting high representative, without Bonn powers. Until an adequate person could be found to serve as high representative. The United States, at that moment, vetoed such a draft resolution. Therefore, Christian Schmidt has never appeared before the Security Council, has never been appointed by the Security Council, and has never received even a mini-resolution that would give him authority for anything,” Petronijević explained for K1 television.
Source: RTRS
