The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution extending the mandate of the European Union's peacekeeping and security mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina for another year.
The resolution was adopted unanimously on November 2 at a Security Council session in New York during which the 15-member council also discussed a report by the international community's high representative to Bosnia, Christian Schmidt.
Known as EUFOR Althea, the peacekeeping mission -- made up of about 1,100 soldiers from 20 countries -- must be renewed by the Security Council every year. It was first deployed to Bosnia in 2004.
The report, which covers the period from April 16 to October 15 of this year, warns that there have been "unprecedented attacks on the Dayton peace agreement and the constitutional order of Bosnia.“
The high representative also highlighted wrong interpretations of the Dayton agreement in the entity of Republika Srpska, which "serve secessionist goals, including claims which negate the continuity of BiH and wrongly present its composition.“
It also emphasizes that "there is only one country on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that is Bosnia and Herzegovina."
High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Christian Schmidt (file photo)
The Office of the High Representative (OHR) was established by the Dayton agreement, which ended the 1992-95 Bosnian War, and Schmidt functions as the international community's overseer of civil and other aspects of the accord.
The agreement also established the division of the country between two entities, Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat federation, which are tied together by a weak central government.
The pro-Russian leader of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, has spoken in favor of the secession of the majority Serb entity, and his actions have resulted in charges related to his efforts to ignore Schmidt’s decisions and decisions made by Bosnia's Constitutional Court. A hearing in the case has been set for November 22.
Dodik, who has been under U.S. sanctions since 2017 and under U.K. sanctions since last year for undermining the Dayton agreement, has refused to enter a plea and has called the proceedings "a circus."
Republika Srpska leader Milorad Dodik (file photo)
The presiding member of the Bosnian tripartite presidency, Zeljko Komsic, told the Security Council that the country "hasn't completed its democratic transition" 28 years after the war, and that it's "still stuck in ethnic policies.“
U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood told the Security Council that the United States is "concerned" by recent events, including rhetoric and actions by officials undermining the Dayton agreement, the constitutional structure of the country, and rule of law. Wood added that Schmidt has the full support of the United States.
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said "political crisis in the country is a permanent reality" and that "OHR is obsolete and should be closed as soon as possible."
Russia and China -- which took over the presidency of the UN Security Council -- do not recognize Schmidt as the high representative, claiming that he wasn't properly confirmed. Other countries that do recognize Schmidt have said that this was not required.
Because of the Russian and Chinese opposition, top politicians in Republika Srpska also dispute Schmidt's status.