WRONG TO SIT AT THE TABLE WITH SOMEONE WHO LACKS LEGITIMACY LIKE SCHMIDT

BANJA LUKA, JUNE 4 /SRNA/ – Representatives of the opposition from Republika Srpska and the "Troika" coalition from the Federation of BiH (FBiH), by attending the meeting with members of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC), granted legitimacy to that informal body — particularly by sitting at the table with the illegitimate Christian Schmidt, someone who calls himself an authority, said Bojan Šolaja of the Center for International and Security Studies.

"As long as anyone from the outside, who is neither legitimate nor legal and lacks the capacity defined by the Dayton Agreement, imposes themselves as a process manager, we won’t move forward. By attending the meeting, opposition representatives from Republika Srpska and the 'Troika' from FBiH legitimized this narrative," Šolaja stated. He noted that representatives of HDZ BiH also attended the meeting, using the opportunity to present their demands and vision of how BiH could function in accordance with the Dayton Agreement — not by attempting to reconfigure the internal structure of the country. Šolaja emphasized that discussing open issues and seeking solutions — as initiated by Republika Srpska — is not controversial. The problem, he added, lies in the parallel processes driven by Schmidt and those who justify his actions, which are leading BiH in the wrong direction. "It was a serious mistake, not only by opposition representatives from Republika Srpska but by all political actors who claim to seek a more positive path for BiH — even those seeking new coalition partnerships — to sit at the same table with someone who declares himself an authority," Šolaja added. He also reminded that the PIC meeting was not even complete, as two guarantor countries of the Dayton Agreement — Russia, which hasn’t participated for some time, and the U.S., which currently lacks an ambassador in BiH — were absent. Regarding the participants’ claims about unblocking BiH’s European path, Šolaja said that most political actors in BiH support EU integration, but that creating new coalition blocs, from which HDZ has now withdrawn, will not resolve the stagnation on that path. Yesterday, a meeting was held at the OHR in Sarajevo between representatives of the “Troika” coalition from the FBiH, opposition parties from Republika Srpska, HDZ BiH, and members of the PIC Steering Board.