Schwarz-Schilling: We Left Bosnians High and Dry, Serbs Will Be the Winners

BiH, (Patria) - In an interview with Deutschlandfunk the former High Representative in BiH spoke about the political situation in the Western Balkan countries and BiH's perspective on the path to the EU. German media also write about the debate in the Bundestag about Denis Yücel, reports DW.

German radio Deutschlandfunk published an extensive interview with Christian Schwarz-Schilling on its website, in which it recalls the merits of this sinologist and expert on Chinese diplomacy, who was Minister of Telecommunications in the so-called Kohl Republic, reports Patria.

He was the one who gave permission for the establishment of private media houses (RTL, Pro7, SAT1 and others), with which he wanted to reduce the monopoly of state media. The Deutschlandfunk journalist recalls how Schwarz-Schilling demonstratively left that ministerial position at the end of 1992. "I am ashamed to belong to this government," he said, furious because the coalition of Christian Democrats and Liberals, in his opinion, did too little to stop the killing during the breakup of Yugoslavia. He believed that Germany was obliged to stop Serbia's expansion in the Balkans, and that within the framework of NATO. And as an international mediator and High Representative in BiH, he later tried to turn BiH into a functional and sustainable state.

Recalling the beginning of the conflict in the Balkans, Schwarz-Schilling said: „The breakup of Yugoslavia initially had nothing to do with us. It was a domestic political issue in the Balkans. But Milošević replaced the communist ideology with an ethnic one and said: Every part of the country where Serbs live should become Serbian. We all thought he didn't mean it seriously, but he actually meant it very seriously. We did nothing then, even though we had the strongest alliance in the world on our side - NATO."

When asked by the journalist about the prospects for the countries created by the breakup of Yugoslavia to join the European Union, he replied:

„They are far from it. There can be no talk of the rule of law at all. It is a purely political matter, and that purely political matter will not succeed because it is based on false assumptions. You have to imagine what that psychologically means for all those people. We left Bosnians high and dry, we did not protect them, nor did we give them weapons to defend themselves. Then they got Dayton. Thus, those who were attacked and those who were intended to be conquered are now last in line for EU entry. The Serbs are the smartest today. They have the best policy, a policy that is superior, and they will be the winners, as they intended in the time of Milošević, but with catastrophic means. Today they do it with skillful diplomacy, wisely and persistently. And that persistence, characteristic of playing chess, where you know you have to think not only about the next move, but also about the next two, three, four moves, takes away all joy from those responsible in the EU. The Americans are sorry and they say that the Balkans is Europe's waiting room, not theirs. We can certainly understand all sides, only the EU representatives will feel it on their own skin, because already today we have a situation where it cannot be said that the Europeanization of Bosnia and the Western Balkans has occurred, but rather that the Balkanization of Europe has occurred. That could be the end of the story if at some point we do not pull ourselves together and properly resolve these issues in accordance with our values in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Western Balkans."

Read the entire interview at the link here.