Mujanović reacts to Schmidt's op-ed: High Representative tries to circumvent court rulings

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Political scientist Jasmin Mujanović reacted to the OHR's statement which condemns Milanović's denial of genocide, but also mentions that it concerns alleged media reports from Brdo near Kranj.

"The OHR should note that these were not just media reports. The Chairperson of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed that the Croatian president denied the Srebrenica genocide in his presence. If we are going to react to incidents, let us call them by their name," Mujanović said.

Earlier, Mujanović commented on the op-ed by High Representative Christian Schmidt for Sarajevo's Oslobođenje.

"Schmidt has finally (somehow) addressed the Bosnian public through an article in Oslobođenje. But his text includes one particularly concerning paragraph that reveals how harmful his activities have been and could be for Bosnia's democratic prospects. The whole point in Bosnia is how a democratic majority can create a liberal-democratic regime in line with EU norms against an artificial opposition rooted in a sectarian oligarchy. But Schmidt seems most concerned with preserving the latter," Mujanović points out.

"So, it is good that the OHR has finally clarified its position regarding the reform of the Election Law in Bosnia and Herzegovina. But this text explains why it took them so long: it appears that Schmidt is trying to circumvent the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, rather than implementing them," Mujanović said.

Recall, Jasmin Mujanović is a political scientist at York University specializing in the politics of post-authoritarian and post-conflict democratization and co-host of the podcast on Southeast European issues “Sarajevo Calling.” His first book, Hunger and Fury: The Crisis of Democracy in the Balkans (Hurst Publishers & Oxford University Press, 2018), explores the persistence of authoritarian and illiberal forms of governance in the Western Balkans since the end of the Yugoslav wars.