Murphy in a nutshell, Hill on the record: Who to believe and what is the real US policy towards BiH!

Written by: A. Čorbo-Zećo

The United States Embassy in Sarajevo did not wait long to issue a statement regarding the holding of the "all-Serbian" assembly, clearly stating that Republika Srpska is not a state, but an entity that can only exist within Bosnia and Herzegovina.

They very clearly concluded that the 'conclusions adopted at the all-Serbian assembly concerning the Dayton Peace Agreement and the independent state of Bosnia and Herzegovina are rooted in legal disinformation and riddled with errors'.
One might say this is a principled stance reflecting US policy towards Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, it did not take long for the public to become confused and ultimately question what the United States policy is, or more precisely, who is telling the truth – Michael Murphy or the US Ambassador to Serbia, Christopher Hill.

“Regarding Bosnia, Dayton is clearly the founding document of this Bosnian state, and I think Dayton is universally supported, supported by the Serbian government, certainly supported by our government. Both of us are signatories to the Dayton Agreement, and that is the way forward. I think the point regarding Dayton is very clear. You do not make unilateral decisions with the Dayton Peace Agreement. This must be done at the country level.

A major event, a special manifestation, with folklore and other things that happened, took place in Belgrade over the weekend. But I think one thing that everyone must understand is that Dayton is the basis of Bosnia's territorial integrity, the territorial integrity of entities within Bosnia, and that these elements of Dayton must be respected by all parties," Hill said in an interview with NIN.
Translated, Hill claims there is no BiH without Dayton, which is contrary to what the US Embassy in Sarajevo claims.

“The Dayton Peace Agreement and the BiH Constitution explicitly state that Bosnia and Herzegovina is the successor state to the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with its internal structure modified to consist of two entities.
Neither Dayton nor the BiH Constitution grant entities, or any other sub-state body, the right to secession, 'disassociation', or any other clumsy synonym for secession invented by RS officials. RS is not a state and can only exist within Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has no legal subjectivity outside of Bosnia and Herzegovina”.

And it is precisely in such dual interpretations by American diplomats of what happened in Belgrade that we see how urgently BiH needs to work on its Constitution. There is no longer any doubt that by creating the BiH Constitution as it is, international policy, primarily American and European, left BiH as an unfinished country.

The question is only who is telling the truth, Hill or Murphy, and do we really know what policy the US administration is currently pursuing.

Murphy claims that this policy has been the same for 30 years.

“US policy towards BiH has been clear for 30 years. We support the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and multi-ethnic character of BiH. We want to see it integrated into Euro-Atlantic institutions. We have told leaders in BiH, publicly and privately, that we will defend our interests and that we will speak out and act against anti-Dayton actions,” Murphy said.

It would be appropriate for him to then explain what Hill is saying, and to place such narratives somewhere within those 30 years. Or to clearly state that Vučić is indeed shaping Hill's thoughts!

Otherwise, they act like a discordant orchestra, further confusing the public and the citizens of BiH, who are already in the madness of life served to them by domestic politicians.