Although there is a lot of speculation in the media these days about who the candidates are for the new high representative, it seems that no one has a clear picture yet of who could be nominated.
Will there be enough time?
Apparently, a meeting of the Steering Committee of the Peace Implementation Council is expected next week, in order to see what the mood is among the member countries regarding the potential candidates, but it is not certain that there will be enough time to make a decision.
Who is the best candidate
As we learn, the US still thinks that the best candidate would be the Italian Antonio Zanardi Landi, however it seems that the Europeans are skeptical especially because they think that he has entered into business arrangements in America.
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The British, it seems, have no preference, except that the candidate must be a common agreement on both sides of the Atlantic.
As we learn, they will not propose a candidate, but they are ready to offer him if there is no agreement, to resolve any deadlock that could arise.
Some European countries believe that there should be no rush to appoint a new high representative without a good analysis, discussions within the EU and with other allies so that the next high representative avoids the problems that appeared before Christian Schmidt.
Americans are in a hurry
As we have learned, the Americans are in a hurry to finish the job by the end of June because they do not want to get into a situation where the new high representative is decided at the same moment when the mandate of EUFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina is being extended.
What everyone agrees on is that the election will not go to the UN Security Council for confirmation, which is what Russia and the leaders of Republika Srpska are asking for, as we have already written.
A special problem could arise here, because the Americans insist that the next high representative must have room for maneuver, and in order to do so, he must have communication with all parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina. If the RS were to implement its policy of not admitting a high representative without approval to the UN, that person could face similar problems that Schmidt had.
Whom the Americans propose
There is even a mention of the possibility that the Americans could propose a “super heavyweight”, a well-known American diplomat, not because they would like to impose themselves on the Europeans, but to avoid showing disrespect or humiliating the OHR institution. The Sarajevo portal Politicki.ba claims that the Americans are preparing to offer this position to the American diplomat William Ruger, but we have not been able to confirm this.
However, in the conversations we have had with several European diplomats in recent days, there is anger because it is believed that America wants to humiliate Europe by first prescribing that the current high representative must leave office, and then imposes its own candidate.
They believe that Tammy Bruce, the US deputy head of the UN Mission, humiliated Europe at the UN Security Council session when she said that America would have a candidate if no agreement could be reached. It was taken as a message that Europeans can talk as much as they want, but it is known who will cut in the end.
A problem for Europe
As we have already written, the problem for Europe is that it does not have a unified foreign policy approach, so American quick and decisive action is often understood as American imposition, and not European hesitation and indecision, regardless of whether this is the real intention.
All in all, a very unfavorable and dangerous scenario is starting to materialize for BiH, in which the allies who concluded Dayton together are showing increasing strategic differences on how they see the policy towards this country. Given that BiH is historically a country that largely depends on the relationship between regional, European and global actors, any serious disagreement could throw BiH into an even deeper and more difficult crisis, with consequences that are difficult to foresee.
The only long-term stable solution for Bosnia and Herzegovina seems to be the continuation of the European path with the accelerated implementation of reforms, but the motivation of local politicians to work on it is running out, they write. Independent newspaper.
