[ Bosnia-Herzegovina ]

Today, on the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Dayton-Paris Peace Agreement in Paris (cf. this blog, 7.11.2005), the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) appointed the former international mediator for BH Christian Schwarz-Schilling (75) as the next High Representative. The former Christian Democratic telecommunications minister, former Parliamentarian and member of the human rights committee in the German Bundestag will succeed Paddy Ashdown at the end of January.

The three Bosnian Presidents, the Prime Minister, and the Foreign Minister of BH travelled to Paris to attend the 10th anniversary, to meet with Jacques Chirac, and to address the PIC meeting, the first since the launch of SAA negotiations.

Together with the PIC Steering board, they defined a number of priorities for BH: overcome interethnic prejudices, modernize Dayton, transfer war crimes indictees to the Hague, support returns, go on with economic, education, police, defence, and intelligence reform, complete the unification of Mostar, promote truth and reconciliation, strengthen civil society, and

ensure that the BiH authorities reassume political responsibility for undertaking tasks that are currently being carried out by the International Community, while maintaining the International Community's engagement at a meaningful and constructive level consistent with the needs of Bosnia and Herzegovina's transition to market democracy (cf. PIC communique).

Let us see how Ch. Schwarz-Schilling manages this "international-local" tightrope balancing act. He has repeatedly criticised the extensive use Paddy Ashdown made of the Bonn powers, especially in administrative matters, and explains in an RFE/RL interview:

I will listen to the people, I will listen to the Bosnian politicians. Then I will try to convince them to come to a decision by themselves and then everybody has to follow up that. (RFE/RL, 18.11.2005)

Photo source: wikipedia