HEARING BEFORE THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT Schmidt: I will not dismiss Dodik, I will not impose the FBiH Government, Vučić is not for the Wagner group!

(Patria) - The hearing of Christian Schmidt, the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has begun before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliament of Great Britain. 

"I think we could have detected cases of fraud in the Central Election Commission. Decisions on the Election Law led to the quick establishment of Parliament, especially at the state level. The so-called reform parties SDP, NIP, NS and others, i.e., the "eight" coalition, HDZ and SNSD established power at the state level. 

The formation of government at the federal level is slowed down because it is tied to the representation of peoples in the leadership of FBiH, because one party is not participating in the government, but in the opposition. But they have made good initial decisions, these are good budgets at the state and Federation level. 

People and citizens are looking for security, there are some things that need to be changed in the area of legislation," said Schmidt in his opening remarks at the hearing. 

QUESTION: How optimistic are you? I recall that between 2003 and 2015, no progress was visible?

SCHMIDT: That is a challenge and a problem. In previous years, we did not manage to bring communities together to establish a common stance and political integration. I would not say it is a deficiency of the constituent peoples, but of the political classes, who play the game along national lines, Schmidt replied. 

There is no parliamentary majority to resolve the issues of the European Court of Human Rights rulings. There is no discussion about how to retain young people; we have a dramatic outflow of young people from BiH, so some attractive measures must be implemented.

QUESTION: Your decisions on the Election Law were controversial; how will they contribute to the implementation of Dayton?

SCHMIDT: I would really like to work on implementing the Sejdić-Finci decision. They do not belong to the constituent peoples. This needs to be resolved. Unfortunately, the Constitutional Court decided that this must be done first at the state level and then at the entity level. I tried to do two things. First, to have elections, because there was no budget planned. 

We did not have a session of the Constitutional Court of FBiH and the Council for National Interest. So I ordered that they can do it now, and that has been implemented. 

There is no proportionality in the composition of the House of Peoples. A slightly greater advantage should have been given. It is all complex. 

QUESTION: The reform you introduced on election night, how did it move us away from nationalism and why did you only make a decision for the Federation?

SCHMIDT: You cannot expect the High Representative to change all the problems of the past 27 years, so I decided to do this. In the past period in the Federation, we did not have a new government, and that is the greatest disrespect to democracy. I was looking for functionality. In a short period, we have a functional Parliament. This does not address the key problem you mentioned. 

There was a general clause on protecting vital interest; I removed that list and reduced what judges need to decide on. We need to reduce the influence of vital national interest. I only increased the number of delegates in the House of Peoples. 

QUESTION: Can we hear a little more about the election reforms from July 2022?

SCHMIDT: I was criticized. I take this personally. The point here is for everyone to return to the scene. They must go that way. If we think, let's wait for something, and for 15 years everyone here has been doing business with the help of the international community. From March to May, we had negotiations. 

QUESTION: Why did you choose October 2nd?

SCHMIDT: I reject all criticism. Let's be fair. Let's just see what I did. And that is the reform of the Constitution. 

QUESTION: Why did you wait from July to October?

SCHMIDT: I saw all the drafts. This was the final draft, and I made the decision. The Peace Implementation Council insisted that I work on the issue of the functionality of the House of Peoples. Now you have greater possibilities. 

QUESTION: How will you unblock the process of establishing government in FBiH?

SCHMIDT: I unblocked it!

QUESTION: When will the new FBiH Government be formed?

SCHMIDT: It is not up to me to decide on the formation of the FBiH Government. The "eight" coalition has a majority in the House of Representatives. In the House of Peoples, SDA secured a majority with coalition partners in the Bosniak Caucus. One delegate, instead of with the "eight" coalition, turned to SDA. 

QUESTION: Do you now have to adopt amendments to your proposals?

SCHMIDT: We are still not talking about a solution in the FBiH Constitution, but about a solution in the Dayton Peace Agreement. Now it is necessary to negotiate. 

QUESTION: Several members of the RS Government are on the US and UK sanctions lists. Have you considered sanctioning them?

SCHMIDT: Sometimes I wish I were like Paddy Ashdown, but he was in a different environment. I would not rule it out, but I will not use it now. Perhaps financial conditionality should be considered. Republika Srpska needs money. Dodik's decision to reward Putin has led us in a different direction. 

QUESTION: We are concerned about what we saw on January 9th, or the continued denial of genocide. It is crucial to remove all those who do this. I would like to hear your opinion on Russian influence in BiH. Are some parties close to that Russian regime?

SCHMIDT: SNSD has shown considerable sympathy towards Russia. But I would differentiate between historical ties and politics. We saw in Belgrade that the Russians have a center (Wagner group) for recruitment, and of course, President Aleksandar Vučić did not agree to that. 

QUESTION: HDZ has voted against sanctions on Russia twice. We have SNSD, Night Wolves. It seems that the balance of power on the ground and Putin are strengthening?

SCHMIDT: On behalf of all citizens, after the formation of government, we must have a clear stance. So far, I have heard reasonable views. The BiH Presidency member recently spoke in Brussels, and the NATO mandate here needs to be renewed. I agree that people are concerned. I need European, British, and American support, but I think we are not doing badly so far.

QUESTION: Regarding the criticism that you favored HDZ and received an award from the Prime Minister of Croatia.

SCHMIDT: I received the award from the Prime Minister of Croatia several years ago. I see nothing wrong with that. I don't think it has anything to do with my decision on government functionality. I saw that some were making political campaigns out of my decision, so I decided to announce the decision after the polls closed. HDZ is dominant in the Croat Caucus, SNSD is in the Serb Caucus, and SDA has a divided role because they lost their position in the BiH Presidency. Honestly, I don't see how I favored anyone. The numbers reflect the proportions that existed before. 

Perhaps someone could say that I have not solved the problem of ethnic differences, but we must reform the entire House of Peoples. We need to think about a regional approach to the houses, not based on the ethnic composition of the population. 

I don't see that I have favored anyone. The current amendments are supported by a large number of people. Although much still needs to be done. 

QUESTION: It seems that BiH was created and destroyed by narratives. When politicians seek talks with you, they question the answers. You became High Representative in 2021, now we have an award to Putin. I wonder if you considered returning the award to the Prime Minister of Croatia when you became High Representative. Such awards were received by convicted war criminals?

SCHMIDT: I must say that in 2012, I received an award as a member of the German Government. It was about the independence of Croatia, Slovenia, and BiH. I do not understand the arguments you are referring to. I did not grasp the reason. 

QUESTION: I am talking about the Order of Ante Starčević. In October 2022, the Prime Minister of Croatia stated in Parliament that after years of attempts, the issue of the Croatian people in BiH had been resolved. A narrative about electoral reform was created that we did not want to see. 

SCHMIDT: I guarantee you that I am not here to testify to Parliament. My decisions are my decisions. Tomorrow I am going to Belgrade. I talk to all the countries in this region. If there are doubts about my reputation and integrity, I would first say that it is not nice towards me. Those who know me should refrain from such comments. 

QUESTION: How do you feel about a foreign government trying to suggest that they influenced your decision?

SCHMIDT: I would not suggest that!

QUESTION: How much influence do the governments of Serbia and Croatia have on internal affairs in BiH?

SCHMIDT: I think it is very important. You have clear cases of interference in internal affairs in BiH through the status of signatories to the Dayton Peace Agreement. We have seen considerable interference from the President of Croatia, who came to a situation where the expansion of NATO to Finland and Sweden was linked to changes in the Election Law in BiH. Fortunately, the Parliament in Zagreb did not follow his comments. We have close relations with Serbia. Neither Croatia nor Serbia has done anything so far to undermine the territorial integrity of BiH. Vučić has said that he respects territorial integrity. 

We also had the Open Balkan initiative. Sometimes in BiH, we have one part that supports it, and another that does not. It is necessary to better establish the level of cooperation and thus lead more to internal decisions. This will then prevent others from exerting influence. 

QUESTION: What is happening regarding state property?

SCHMIDT: All rumors that I am negotiating something with Dodik are nonsense. Last year, I blocked illegal decisions of the NSRs. They tried to reintroduce them now. When I proposed a law at the state level, Dodik said he would seek autonomy. 

After 10 years of inaction, the problem needs to be resolved where you have property, and no one knows who it belongs to. I no longer want to hear about me secretly meeting with Dodik. 

QUESTION: What can the British government do to reduce ethno-national divisions and strengthen stability?

SCHMIDT: High-level diplomatic engagement in terms of NATO-level security is significant. I want to thank you for your stance on the decisions I have made and ask for your support for further work. I would ask for support to designate Potočari and genocide sites at the state level.