STEVANDIĆ: THREE WORLD POWERS HAVE SAID OHR'S TIME IS UP

BANJA LUKA, OCTOBER 31 /SRNA/ - The most important thing is that the three major powers – the United States, Russia and China – said at a UN Security Council meeting that the Office of the High Representative /OHR/ has outlived its purpose and should be closed, Republika Srpska National Assembly Speaker Nenad Stevandić told SRNA.

"This is far more important than the position of those who think that abusing the OHR and its reports will change anything in the UN Security Council – it will not; everyone will be against the OHR," Stevandić told SRNA.

He added that the OHR exists only because its officials receive high salaries and use various forms of manipulation to remain in their positions.

"There is a narrative in the Bosniak public that the OHR protects them. I think it protects them only from reaching agreements with the Serbs. They will probably also become aware that the OHR is merely an obstacle, not a guardian of BiH," Stevandić said.

Stevandić said he considers it perfectly normal for Russia's Ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, to advocate for Republika Srpska, particularly given that others do the same, but the Russian diplomat does so openly.

Commenting on the UN Security Council's decision to extend the mandate of the EUFOR Althea mission in BiH for another year, Stevandić said this showed how BiH could function – only if everyone agreed on the matter.

US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Tammy Bruce said at the UN Security Council meeting, among other things, that the United States was calling on Acting High Representative Louis Crishock to encourage the authorities at the BiH level to assume full responsibility for domestic affairs.

Nebenzya said, among other things, that the OHR was being shamefully used in BiH as an instrument for interfering in the internal affairs of a sovereign country and controlling its legislation, judiciary, law enforcement agencies and electoral institutions.