KALABUKHOV: TIME HAS COME TO CLOSE THE OHR

SARAJEVO, MAY 12 /SRNA/ – Igor Kalabukhov, the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to BiH, told SRNA that the time has finally come with the departure of Christian Schmidt to close the OHR, and to have local politicians to agree afterwards on the priorities for BiH's development.

Kalabukhov announced that Russia's position on BiH will be presented at today's debate of the United Nations Security Council.

He stressed that positions must be clarified and that the OHR, with all its powers, cannot exist indefinitely.

"There is a kind of paradox and contradiction here, namely that there can be no talk of BiH's sovereignty while the OHR is present," the Russian ambassador assessed.

He also referred to some draft positions prepared for today's Security Council session, which state that the "situation in BiH has worsened".

"The question is whether such a narrative is being deliberately created in order to justify the continued existence of the OHR, or whether those who worked in the OHR are so unqualified that they caused such a situation," Kalabukhov said.

He believes that after 30 years of the OHR’s existence, it could have been expected that everything necessary would have been done and that BiH would have ended its international protectorate status.

He recalled that during Schmidt's term there was destabilization within the international community and the political situation in BiH, which Russia had warned about five years ago when the so-called high representative arrived.

Kalabukhov noted that Russia has never recognised Schmidt as high representative and has not been interested in what he said or did.

Responding to a question about whether Russia will participate in the appointment of a future high representative, Kalabukhov said there may be some negotiations within the international community, recalling that Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik also stated that Republika Srpska, as a signatory to the Dayton Peace Agreement, must participate in the selection process.

"We will see what happens, but the basic procedure is known - according to the Dayton Peace Agreement, the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council can only nominate a candidate, while the final decision lies with the Security Council, which must approve that nomination," Kalabukhov said.

He concluded that conditions for closing the OHR no longer need to be set, and that political representatives in BiH must reach their own agreement on development priorities.

The OHR announced yesterday that Christian Schmidt had made a personal decision to leave BiH.