VRANJEŠ: CONTINUED INTERNATIONAL SUPERVISION LEADS TO THE DISAPPEARANCE OF BiH

BELGRADE, MAY 27 /SRNA/ – The survival of any form of international supervision in BiH, in the form of a High Representative with the Bonn Powers and continued imposition of decisions, leads to the breakup and end of BiH, assessed BiH ambassador to Serbia, Aleksandar Vranješ.

Commenting on the adoption of the Declaration on closing the OHR by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, Vranješ stated that Republika Srpska has once again clearly expressed its position that the OHR should be closed and the position of the high representative terminated. "The reasons have been known for many years, because the Dayton Peace Agreement also envisages that decisions are made by consensus of the three constituent peoples through agreed communication between Republika Srpska and the FBiH," Vranješ said in Belgrade. Vranješ pointed out that for 30 years any form of international intervention has been creating problems in BiH. He says it is clear that Christian Schmidt is leaving, but there are indications there is no consensus on the fate of the OHR within the international community in Sarajevo, not even among previous partners. "We see different positions on this issue between the United States and EU member states. The United States expresses the view that there should be a transition from an international decision-making system to local leaders, that the focus should be shifted to internal agreement, and that this is how the decision-making system should look," Vranješ said. However, he adds, this does not appear to be acceptable to EU member states or the United Kingdom. "There are discussions in diplomatic circles in Sarajevo that disagreements have emerged because, unlike the US, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Brussels believe that international supervision in the form of the High Representative should remain with Bonn Powers, rather than transferring responsibility to local leaders as envisioned by the Dayton," he explained. He believes this clearly shows who are friends and who are enemies of BiH, because states that advocate for the continuation of such strong supervision cannot call themselves friends of BiH. "That is a certain path toward the breakup of BiH. I see no future if any form of High Representative with Bonn Powers and imposed decisions is maintained, because that will be the end of BiH," Vranješ said.