PERIĆ ROMIĆ: A WELCOME DEVELOPMENT – THE DEPLOYMENT OF A U.S. CHARGÉ D’AFFAIRES TO BiH SIGNALS AMERICAN ENGAGEMENT IN CRISIS RESOLUTION

BANJA LUKA, September 9 /SRNA/ – Professor Dr. Ranka Perić Romić, Dean of the Faculty of Political Sciences in Banja Luka, stated to SRNA that the decision by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to dispatch a Chargé d’Affaires to Bosnia and Herzegovina is a highly positive development.

It reflects American engagement in resolving the current crisis, particularly given the European Union’s demonstrated inability to participate constructively—let alone to resolve contentious issues in the Balkans. “The United States, after all, was the architect of the Dayton Peace Agreement. Today, there is widespread recognition of the extent to which that agreement has been undermined. Bosnia and Herzegovina is, in effect, an occupied state—frozen in a state of non-Dayton foreign interventionism—and the time has come either to restore order or to define a new solution. The country is clearly entering a decisive phase, and the coming months will show which model, if any, is sustainable,” Perić Romić emphasized.“ Asked to comment on speculation in Sarajevo-based media regarding the alleged mandate of the incoming U.S. envoy, Perić Romić responded that it is difficult to understand why political Sarajevo would view the development with satisfaction. “If the individual arriving is a ‘crisis ambassador’ sent by the new U.S. administration, it clearly implies that a crisis needs to be resolved. Sarajevo has grown accustomed to receiving uncritical support from foreign actors—primarily from the bureaucratic circles of the U.S. and EU, and their domestic proxies,” Perić Romić stated. She pointed out that no domestic or foreign issue exists on which the political leaderships of Sarajevo and Banja Luka adopt a shared position. “Banja Luka, rightly, does not comment on the appointments of foreign diplomats, but it is firmly convinced that the time has passed when outside actors could continue pursuing policies that give the Bosniaks more, and the Serbs and Croats less, than what is guaranteed to them under the Constitution,” she explained. Furthermore, she added, Sarajevo’s media only become aware of such appointments once the diplomatic note reaches the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “The days of quiet backchannel warnings to the Bosniaks from Washington are over,” she stressed. “Had it been otherwise, they would have known and reported on it much earlier.” “The time has come to part ways and to say goodbye to the instruments of the U.S. deep state and Brussels bureaucracy. It is best that this happen by mutual agreement—any unilateral move would create even greater chaos than that caused by Christian Schmidt,” Perić Romić concluded.