Russia “Categorically refuses” the appointment at the end of May of a former German minister to the post of High International Representative for Bosnia, Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, told the Security Council on Tuesday, for whom his office is no longer necessary. This designation was decided by the Council for the Implementation of the Peace Agreements Negotiated in 1995, in which 55 countries participate, after the resignation of the Austrian Valentin Inzko after 12 years in office.
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Member of this Board, “Russia signals that it categorically refuses this designation”, said the Russian diplomat. An appointment must receive “The endorsement of the Security Council through a resolution”, he added during a meeting on Bosnia organized on the initiative of Moscow. “The name of Christian Schmidt appeared out of nowhere without the slightest discussion”, criticized Vassily Nebenzia, at the same time reaffirming Moscow’s support for the peace agreements.
On behalf of the United States, the American Ambassador Richard Mills, replied that the appointment of Christian Schmidt, a former German Minister of Agriculture (2014-2018) who takes office on August 1, was “A case closed” and that the United Nations had nothing to do with the designation process. “The office (of the High Representative) has been essential to stability for the past 25 years. It is necessary to guide Bosnia and Herzegovina towards its own identified objectives ”, added the American diplomat.
“Moscow does not agree in principle with the appointment of a new High Representative” car “Russia calls for the immediate closure of the office and uses false legal arguments to advance this goal”, he denounced. At the beginning of May, Valentin Inzko had once again deplored the hate speech against him before the Security Council, regretting having been described in November as “monster” by the incumbent President of Bosnia, the Serbian Milorad Dodik. Russia then again accused him of bias in its reports, presenting the situation in Bosnia. “As if the Bosnian Serbs and the Croats alone were to blame for all the difficulties”.
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