Academician Duraković: Inzko pulls cheap political tricks at the end of his mandate

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The mandate of Valentin Inzko as High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the embodiment of European inefficiency, barrenness and bureaucratisation. He slept through his mandate and did nothing, and the last moves he made were a smokescreen to make it look like he had done something, said academician Esad Duraković for N1, appearing on the show Novi dan on N1.

“His mandate is something special. I have to be pessimistic. I do not want to personally hurt Inzko, but his mandate and position is the embodiment of European inefficiency, barrenness, bureaucratisation… He absolutely did nothing, he slept through his mandate, and he took money every month. He did nothing, and he was obliged to. His position obligates him to do so,” said the N1 guest.

He said that if the PIC does not allow the use of the Bonn Powers – he should have spoken more clearly and more forcefully that his hands were tied and that there are problems in BiH.

“His request from a day or two ago – that the RSNA withdraw recognitions to war criminals. Why wasn't the Law on Prohibition of Denial of Genocide imposed earlier? This now, in jargon, is a cheap political trick, a gimmick, a smokescreen, to do something at the end of his mandate. Those people, Karadžić, Mladić, Krajišnik, Plavšić, were decorated because they were the creators of this entity, which was born from mass graves. They created it. It is normal that they give them decorations – I say this from the position of the RSNA,” he stated.

The international community, the High Representative, recognises such an entity, they gave Srebrenica to be managed by the institutions that committed genocide, and then they demand that recognitions be withdrawn from the people who created the entity. Where is the paradox – in the attitude of the international community. They allowed the RS entity to exist, but you do not allow those who created it to be decorated,” stated Duraković.

In his opinion, this is political inconsistency, incoherence and unethical behaviour by the international community.

Esad Duraković told N1 that he is also shocked by the immaturity and political provincialism of domestic political actors. In his opinion, BiH does not have political leaders, but rather leaders who deal with personal and party interests – and that due to such an attitude, more effective measures by the international community should not be expected.

Academician Esad Duraković told N1 that expectations of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the new US administration and US President Joe Biden should be positive and good, and that the US has a moral and political obligation to lead BiH on the right path. He pointed out that that country is the architect of the Dayton Peace Agreement, and that Biden and his administration are obliged to take actions to improve the situation in the country. Duraković said that one must also be realistic in all this, because the US also has its own problems, and that one should not approach everything with too much euphoria.

“Expectations are justifiably positive and good, but certain reservations should be made. America, the world is in a pandemic, but America has a particular problem – in relation to Trump's mandate, it turned out that American society is dramatically divided. 70 million people voted for him, that many voted for a leader who did not cope on the political scene. America will have its own problems, and that will limit their actions in the Balkans,” said Duraković in the introduction.

Joe Biden, in his opinion, is consistent, has a sense of humanity, has diplomatic manners.

“Let us remember that when BiH was in flames, Biden strongly advocated for lifting the arms embargo on BiH. He showed himself as a friend, indicating that the victim has the right to defend itself. He announced a different, more positive attitude towards BiH. I think America has a kind of moral and political obligation to lead BiH on the right path, because America is the architect of Dayton, which has proven dysfunctional after 25 years. The architect must see that his product is not working and that something needs to be changed there,” he emphasised.

He recalled that Richard Holbrooke was the main “architect of Dayton,” and that he himself admitted that he was wrong about many solutions in the agreement.

“A moral politician, and I consider Biden to be such, is obliged to take actions to improve the situation in a country that Europe once left to aggression,” he said.

Nevertheless, emphasises academician Duraković, we must be realistic, without euphoria, understanding that they also have their own problems.

“We have the moral right to expect their action in BiH, but without euphoria. I am an optimist, but a moderate optimist with reason,” he stated.

Duraković told N1 that it is negative that the “magnificent Mrs. Merkel” is leaving the scene in Germany, and that she was the only leader in Europe for several decades.

“We are handicapped by her departure. I hope she leaves a worthy successor. Germany is a respectable political power, but we also had High Representatives from that language area, who were ineffective, and that culminated in Inzko's ineffectiveness. Christian Schwarz-Schilling slept through his mandate, did nothing. I am not sure that the world and Europe are tired of BiH, they could have solved the problem a long time ago, but they are not solving it. They are foisting refugees on us who will produce new problems for us and for them,” he said.

As for Inzko's potential replacement, Christian Schmidt, one should be optimistic, said Duraković, because the US has announced coordination, a synergistic approach in BiH, and that they have an obligation towards BiH to help it get on the right path.