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2w ago

International Peace Body Fails to Name Successor to Bosnia High Representative

Control of the Office of the High Representative matters because the office holds the 1997 'Bonn Powers' to impose laws or remove officials and so shapes Bosnia’s ability to function.

Bosnia's international High Representative Christian Schmidt looks on during an interview with Reuters in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, October 10, 2023. REUTERS/Antonio Bronic//File Photo
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Overview

  • The Peace Implementation Council Steering Board met in Sarajevo and on June 4 failed to reach consensus on a replacement for Christian Schmidt, who resigned in May.
  • The United States publicly backed Italian diplomat Antonio Zanardi Landi and he traveled to Sarajevo for the meeting, but his nomination did not win broad support.
  • Russia has suspended participation in the Steering Board, which complicates the consensus-based selection process used by PIC members such as the US, EU, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Canada.
  • PIC chair Christian Schmidt said consultations will continue with a target to complete a transition by the end of June while the US signals it wants a successor with a narrower mandate than past High Representatives.
  • The outcome matters for Bosnian citizens because the OHR can impose laws and remove officials under the Bonn Powers, and a stalled nomination raises the prospect of shifts in international involvement and possible changes to how the peace settlement is enforced.