RULING KOVAČEVIĆ Schmidt, without PIC's knowledge, asked to address Strasbourg after meeting with Plenković!?

By: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

Christian Schmidt, the High Representative in BiH, requested to participate before the Court in Strasbourg, in relation to the 'Kovačević v. Bosnia and Herzegovina' ruling, it was confirmed to Patria from diplomatic sources. Schmidt was not invited to Strasbourg; he did this on his own initiative and without the approval of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC). This information was confirmed to us by several embassies in BiH. In this case, Schmidt acted as a single party!

He hired a foreign law firm for these purposes, but it is unclear who will pay these costs, as the PIC did not give approval. Incidentally, Schmidt sent the request to address Strasbourg the day after his meeting with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on September 2nd!?

One does not need to look far for the reasons why Schmidt did such a thing, as it has long been evident that Schmidt is more a member of the HDZ than the High Representative in BiH.

He actually addressed Strasbourg in an attempt to protect himself, because his imposition of the Election Law and everything he did on October 2nd, 2022, further complicated relations in BiH, and the international community clearly no longer knows how to solve the problems in BiH.

An additional problem for Schmidt is his misinterpretation that he is the supreme interpreter of the Dayton Peace Agreement, which he is not, as the Office of the High Representative in BiH (OHR) is the leading organization for the civilian aspect of peace implementation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This does not include interpreting the BiH Constitution (Annex 10). The OHR's engagement in the political life of Bosnia and Herzegovina has changed and evolved in accordance with the mandate and focus of interest according to the requirements of the Peace Implementation Council, but Schmidt is now acting as an extension of the HDZ and Croatia, so it will be interesting to see who paid the law firm for his involvement before the Court in Strasbourg.

Schmidt, as a new HDZ member, is clearly protecting their ideology of legitimate representation of peoples, based on the outcomes from The Hague where a joint criminal enterprise was established.

Incidentally, according to Annex 10, the High Representative does not have the right to participate in disputes before international courts. But this now opens another question: if he thinks he has the right, will he then appear before the dispute in Strasbourg when Milorad Dodik sues him for his decisions?

In this way, Schmidt has established his status for himself in future disputes that will be conducted, as well as a participant in the legal system.

We remind you that in that ruling, it was determined that the applicant Slaven Kovačević's right to use his active voting right to elect all members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to influence the election of delegates to the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which he currently does not have, was violated, because as a resident of the Federation of BiH entity, his active voting right for the House of Peoples ceases with the vote for the deputies of the cantonal assembly in which he lives.

In his lawsuit, Kovačević did not use his ethnic affiliation, because ethnic affiliation in a democratic world cannot be linked to active voting rights.

It was ruled that Kovačević's active voting right is jeopardized because when electing members of the Presidency, as a citizen of the FBiH, he can exclusively vote for a Croatian or Bosniak candidate, while he cannot vote at all for delegates to the BiH House of Peoples.

The Council of Ministers of BiH appealed the decision, and the Grand Chamber of the Court is currently deciding on the matter. And precisely this initiative by Schmidt proves that the Council of Ministers acted unlawfully in this case, by allowing the agents of the Council of Ministers to communicate with Strasbourg even though their mandate had expired, which is at best an illegal and unauthorized action.

The members of the Trojka also warmly welcomed the whole story, and instead of European standards, they chose HDZ standards, derived from UZP and other aids, and they will continue to sell us the story about 'those before them'. Where is the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina in all of this, they clearly do not care. Just like Schmidt!