The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Wednesday (November 3) to extend the mandate of the European military mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina by one year, despite Russia’s opposition to the dispatch of high-level international representatives to the Balkan countries.
The Security Council vote came at a time when the Bosnian Serb leader in the country has been increasing the threat of separatism and accused of endangering peace.
Russia is a strong supporter of the Bosnian Serbs and has strongly criticized the post of senior representative.
Moscow even refused to recognize the current German Christian Schmidt, who had just succeeded Austrian Valentin Inzko after 12 years in office.
Russia opposed the principle of the position, saying it was biased, and in 2019 requested the closing of the office of the high representative in the United Nations.
“This post is still vacant. There are no senior representatives or candidates for senior representatives today,” said Vasily Nebenzia, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations.
In fact, Schmidt was not invited to submit his report to the Security Council, and observers said that this may be a simple step to clear the way for Russia to vote for the extension of the European military mission (called “Operation Althea”).
On the other hand, the French ambassador to the United Nations Nicolas de Rivière emphasized the “important role of the high representative in supporting Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
The French diplomat also condemned “questions about the territorial integrity and existence of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a country in all its forms.”
Since the war in the 1990s, Bosnia has been divided by race. Today, its institutions are based on the complex system based on the 1995 Tunisian Peace Agreement and are established along the boundaries of ethnic communities. There are two autonomous entities-the Serb Republic of Serb and the Muslim-Croatian Federation-composed of a weak central Institutions are linked.
Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik promised to form a Serbian army, and hopes to establish a large number of independent management institutions, and at the same time cancel the authorization of the internal federal agencies of the Bosnian Republika Srpska.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas Greenfield expressed regret for Schmidt’s absence and stated that “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina” is of paramount importance.
The European Union Force in Bosnia has about 600 soldiers, and in 2004 it took over the NATO peacekeeping mission.
