Former OSCE Head in BiH Robert Barry, Creator of Amendments to Entity Constitutions Changed by Schmidt, Passes Away

(Patria) - Former head of the OSCE mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina and veteran American diplomat Robert Barry has passed away in the US at the age of 90.

He was born in 1934 in Pittsburgh, the federal American state of Pennsylvania.

He was appointed head of the OSCE Mission in BiH in 1998 and remained in the position until 2001.

This was also the time when the Alliance for Changes came to power for the first time, a conglomerate of parties that, with strong support from the international community, formed the government and prevented SDA and HDZ from ruling.

The news of his death was first announced by the portal Istraga.ba on its X account.

The principles of government formation in the FBiH entity defined by Barry were in effect until October 2, 2022. Then, High Representative Christian Schmidt began to change them, again to ensure that SDA was not (at least) in power.

With later amendments to the Election Law, Schmidt had to suspend the Constitution of the FBiH entity in order for Nermin Nikšić's government to be elected, writes Politicki.ba.