Danke Deutschland, aber nein, danke

Schmidt should stay exactly where he is, as we wish him the best of luck, but Bosnia and Herzegovina needs someone who is better for the position of High Representative. Taking into consideration the current situation, Valentin Inzko seems to be a much better option!

By: Sead Numanović

Since October 2020, Germany has been working hard to replace Valentin Inzko, Austrian diplomat serving as High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to currently available information, his place should be filled by Christian Schmidt, a politician of the Christian Social Union (CSU), a conservative German political party. Angela Merkel and the political establishment of her Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) regards the former agriculture minister of Germany and CSU’s “minister of foreign affairs” as the most suitable candidate for the highest-ranking post within the Office of the High Representative (OHR).

At the same time, Berlin’s ambition is to revitalize, strengthen, and – if needed – to make OHR’s role more robust in implementing the international community’s policies in Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to media reports, Germany has somehow managed to convince Russia to accept this plan. It is, however, uncertain whether the administration of the newly-elected U.S. President Joe Biden will play along. Biden’s team has not yet come forward on this issue, and our Capitol Hill sources tell us Biden will remain silent at least until he is inaugurated on January 20, 2021. Only then will we confidently know more.

German officials are quiet, too. They have been skillful in avoiding to address a growing number of questions related to this topic. Both the domestic and international media are curious if the deal with Russia is more than just a rumor, and if not – what does it entail for Russia? How did the Russians get from abolishing the OHR to supporting the appointment of a new High Representative? What will Russia get in return for this favor? In a brief statement for Politicki.ba, Christian Schmidt was more than secretive, suggesting us to seek for more information from the official institutions.

What we know so far is that Schmidt is neither the best nor the most desirable candidate for the new High Representative post. In Germany, he is not even close to the top tiers of the country’s political establishment as his ministerial career did not end in a blaze of glory. Reportedly, his English is rusty, and in the Balkans, he is affiliated with notorious personalities and dubious awards he received. One of the big stains on his political career is certainly the Ante Starčević Order, a Croatian national decoration he formally received last year from the Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenković. A number of people accused with war crimes and convicted war criminals, including Jadranko Prlić, are among the recipients of the Ante Starčević Order.

Therefore, Danke Deutschland, aber nein, danke. Schmidt should stay exactly where he is, as we wish him the best of luck, but Bosnia and Herzegovina needs someone who is better for the position of High Representative. Taking into consideration the current situation, Valentin Inzko seems to be a much better option!

Germany, as well other countries, including Canada, that have been examining their own options for the new High Representative should consider nominating a woman. Never in OHR’s history neither the High Representative nor his deputy were female. That is a disgrace! The institution that claims to be – and was – the supreme body setting the highest constitutional, political, and human rights standards, failed the gender equality test. Worryingly enough, not only no one is noticing this injustice, but no one is even trying to fix it.

Since the new U.S. administration has remained silent on Schmidt’s nomination, the Biden – Haris duo should step up and nominate a woman for the position of Principal Deputy High Representative, the second-ranking official at the Office of the High Representative. The team of the U.S. President-elect Biden has already appointed numerous women at positions in U.S. administration traditionally held by men, making a historic step towards gender parity in American politics. This trend should spill over to Bosnia and Herzegovina, too.

We acknowledge the crucial role of the former U.S. ambassador to BiH, Maureen Cormack played in U.S. Department of Treasury authorizing sanctions against Milorad Dodik in 2016 and his fellow SNSD colleague Nikola Špirić in 2018 When Dodik started spinning that it was the work of the "former administration", she appeared in the White House in Donald Trump's team. [SB1] Not necessarily because she is a Republican, but because she was recognized as a competent and efficient diplomat. In case the experiment with revitalizing OHR fails, either Cormack or another American female diplomat/ politician should/could be serving as Biden’s special envoy for implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement.

The U.S. will anyways deal with Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Western Balkans with greater intensity than we have witnessed in previous years. The new U.S. administration will be working in close cooperation with EU and its Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Miroslav Lajčak. With Richard Grenell and Matthew Palmer, President Trump had two special envoys for the region. President-elect Biden could appoint only one person to do the same job more efficiently.

Regardless of what will be the outcome of the experiment with the new High Representative, the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina is getting back into the focus of the international community is a positive development. This confirms the claims Bosnia and Herzegovina has managed to climb high on the list of priorities on both sides of the Atlantic.

Will this bring us towards the highly-anticipated unraveling of the Dayton agony?