PRIMORAC: BiH IS A FAILED STATE, OHR SHOULD BE ABOLISHED

WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 3 /SRNA/ - BiH is a failed state in which a foreign bureaucrat blocks laws and bans those he dislikes, said Max Primorac, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, adding that BiH's sovereignty must be restored by abolishing the OHR.

"Irresponsible foreign bureaucrats are undermining state sovereignty, blocking institutions, and poisoning interethnic relations," Primorac stated during a hearing on the situation in the Western Balkans organized by the Subcommittee on Europe of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee. He stressed that the US State Department must stop its efforts in BiH to create a centralized country predominantly led by Muslims, as this undermines the equality of the constituent peoples guaranteed by the Dayton Agreement and motivates Serbs to seek separation. "Moreover, Croats are victims of discrimination by the Muslims and are denied the right to elect their own political representatives," Primorac said, adding that "only a third entity in the predominantly Croat areas can save this persecuted Christian community". He pointed out that, 30 years after Dayton and billions of dollars invested by the United States, BiH is a failed state. "There are strong tensions among its three constituent peoples - Serbs, Croats, and Muslims, and relations have been damaged by mutual distrust. The economy is collapsing, the population is rapidly declining, and the country is in a long-term crisis," Primorac said at the hearing titled "The Path to Stability in the Western Balkans". He believes it is time to put an end to this post-Dayton catastrophe of state-building. In the context of US investments in the region, Primorac stated that the Muslims in Sarajevo are blocking the expansion of the US gas pipeline, that is, the Southern Interconnection.