Ahead of PIC: Divisions over new High Representative, US and Italy for Landi, France and Germany push Troccaz

(Patria) - Several European Union member states do not accept the US proposal that Italian diplomat Antonio Zanardi Landi be the new High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Istraga.ba learns from multiple diplomatic sources. Namely, the French intend to "push through" their candidate, Rene Troccaz, who currently serves as the Special Envoy of France for the Western Balkans.

According to the same sources, there are major divisions within the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) regarding the selection of the new High Representative.

On one side are the US, Italy, Turkey, and Japan, which support the proposal that Antonio Zanardi Landi be the new head of the OHR, while on the other side are France, Germany, Canada, and the European Commission. It is precisely for this reason that France and Germany, ahead of the PIC session, are sending their ministers for Europe to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It has already been announced that French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Benjamin Haddad will arrive in Sarajevo, as well as German Minister of State for Europe at the Federal Foreign Office Gunther Krichbaum. They will try to prevent the Americans and Italians, together with Turkey and Japan, from electing Landi as High Representative. The British, according to Istraga's information, have not yet declared their position.

The session of the Peace Implementation Council is scheduled for June 3 and 4 in Sarajevo. Then, barring any changes, the successor to Christian Schmidt, who resigned from the position of High Representative in mid-May under US pressure, should be elected. The Americans, in cooperation with Italy, decided that their candidate would be Antonio Zanardi Landi. The Italian diplomat was officially nominated this week for the position of new High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Antonio Zanardi Landi was born in 1950 in Udine, graduated in law from the University of Padua, and began his diplomatic career in the late 1970s. He was the first Italian to attend the prestigious French school ENA in Paris, an institution through which numerous European statesmen and diplomats have passed.

During his decades-long career, he served in Ottawa, Tehran, London, and the Vatican, but his most politically significant mandates were in Serbia and Russia. From 2004 to 2006, he was the Italian ambassador to the then state union of Serbia and Montenegro, while from 2010 to 2013, he served as ambassador to the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan. Afterwards, he became a diplomatic advisor to the President of Italy, and today he serves as the ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to the Holy See.

On the other hand, the French, in cooperation with Brussels and Berlin, want their diplomat in the position of High Representative. Their goal is to reduce American influence in the Balkans. The French and Germans have skillfully hidden the name of their candidate in recent days. However, Istraga.ba learns that it is Rene Troccaz.

In September 2023, Troccaz was appointed Special Envoy of France for the Western Balkans. He began his diplomatic career in 1988. He was the French ambassador to Cyprus (2016–2019) and the French Consul General in Jerusalem (2019–2023). Earlier, he was an advisor in the cabinet of Bernard Kouchner. He is currently tasked with coordinating French policy towards the Western Balkans. In December 2023, he visited Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he met with representatives of BiH authorities and civil society in Sarajevo and Banja Luka. At that time, he also led the French delegation at the session of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC), held on December 5 and 6, 2023.

In January 2024, Troccaz met with the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia. After the meeting, it was announced that "the two officials exchanged views on the political situation in the immediate neighborhood and key issues in Southeast Europe."

"They emphasized the importance of the enlargement policy as an investment in the stability and prosperity of Southeast Europe, through strengthening democracy, the rule of law, and the market economy, which is a matter of common interest. Grlić Radman emphasized strong support for Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina and other countries in the immediate neighborhood," was published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia.