Preljević: Schmidt's policy pulls BiH back to the era of the darkest colonialism

(Patria) - Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo, Vahidin Preljević, believes that the High Representative in BiH, Christian Schmidt, and the political factors behind him, want to make the citizens of BiH permanent hostages of ethnic segregation.

Preljević was the introductory speaker at today's regular session of Krug 99, and the occasion for the topic "Neocolonial Policies in BiH: The Case of High Representative Christian Schmidt" was the current situation in BiH and a public press conference held on October 17 in front of the OHR building.

- These days and weeks, we are intensively discussing the "Kovačević" case and the self-proclaimed, forced intervention of the High Representative before the Human Rights Court in Strasbourg - says Preljević, adding that the time has come to talk about the "Schmidt" case, as a symptom of the current neocolonial policy towards BiH.

According to his words, it is time to talk about colonialism that appears in new forms, it is time to speak out about cultural racism and prejudices that have a detrimental effect on political and social reality.

In his presentation, Preljević also referred to the colonial legacy in BiH, the period of Austro-Hungarian rule in BiH, but also how Schmidt, in his statements and concrete actions, as he said, "places himself in that tradition, that is, in that colonial legacy, reactivates it anew, and in that way pulls BiH back into the 19th century".

- The key difference between Austro-Hungarian rule in BiH and today's policy personified by Christian Schmidt is that the empire of that time still pulled BiH forward, into the future, while today's policy of Christian Schmidt pulls us back into the 19th century, into the era of the darkest colonialism - assesses Preljević, as reported by Fena.

He also proposed several conclusions that will be discussed and harmonized within Krug 99, and then seek broader consensus in the public and propose as a platform around which all intellectual and political forces in BiH could gather.

- The policy of Christian Schmidt, as the person with the greatest responsibility in implementing the civilian part of the Dayton Peace Agreement, is one of the conclusions, definitely does not contribute to the modernization of BiH, on the contrary, this policy pulls the state back into the darkest era of colonialism.

- Schmidt and the political factors behind him, obviously, want to make the citizens of BiH permanent hostages of ethnic segregation. His policy, obviously, sees the inhabitants of BiH as second and third-class Europeans, those who do not deserve equality, full rights, and do not deserve modern democratic standards - notes Preljević.

Schmidt is increasingly positioning himself, adds the professor, as the secret High Representative on behalf of the Republic of Croatia, as the Austrian press has also written these days.

- From all this, it follows that Christian Schmidt must leave the position he holds. An appeal should be made to the states of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC), to Western diplomacy in general, to remove Schmidt, and even more important than that removal is the insight into the fact that such a policy as is currently being pursued towards BiH is becoming detrimental in the medium and long term - concluded Professor Preljević.