PIC'S HESITANCE FORCES AMERICA TO REVIEW ITS ROLE IN INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE IN BiH

SARAJAEVO, JUNE 5 /SRNA/ - The US Embassy in BiH annonced that the European hesitance and the withdrawal of the Peace Implementation Council /PIC/ from its duty towards BiH force USA to reconsider its role in the current international presence in BiH.

"The US takes note of the European failure to reach consensus around a European candidate and is disappointed these divisions prevented the PIC from fulfilling its task to elect a new High Representative," the Embassy wrote on X.  The Embassy said that it was publicly and widely expected that at the June 3-4 meeting, the PIC would select a new High Representative to provide stability for BiH. The post emphasized that the US delegation strove to achieve a consensus around a commonly shared vision and Italy's well-qualified candidate, the experienced diplomat Ambassador Antonio Zanardi Landi.  "The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described Italy's candidate to Congress as `a gentleman that we think would do a good job of helping provide some stability to that position,`" the Embassy added.  The political directors of the member countries of the PIC Board of Directors failed to reach a consensus at the two-day session in Sarajevo when it comes to the candidate for the high representative, even though it is not within their jurisdiction, and they postponed the decision until the end of the month.