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The top international envoy overseeing Bosnia and Herzegovina’s peace agreement will resign after nearly five years in office, Sarajevo-based Oslobodjenje daily reported late Sunday, citing sources.
German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) also reported Sunday, citing the Office of the High Representative (OHR), that former German agriculture minister Christian Schmidt had personally decided to step down from the position.
Former German agriculture minister Christian Schmidt, 68, “has personally decided to end his service in implementing the peace process in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” FAZ quoted a statement from his office as saying.
According to the newspaper, Schmidt will remain in office until a successor is appointed.
The OHR was established following the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, which killed around 100,000 people and displaced millions.
The High Representative oversees the civilian implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the conflict and serves as the final interpreter of Bosnia’s constitution.
Schmidt, a member of Germany’s Christian Social Union, took office in 2021 and quickly became a target of criticism from Bosnian Serb officials.
His tenure was marked by frequent tensions with Republika Srpska, one of Bosnia’s two autonomous entities linked through a weak central government.
Former Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik rejected Schmidt’s legitimacy from the outset, arguing his appointment lacked formal approval from the United Nations Security Council due to opposition from Russia and China.
Despite the objections, Schmidt pledged to use all “political tools” available to strengthen Bosnia’s institutions and advance its European Union path.
Dodik, who maintains close ties with the Kremlin, repeatedly dismissed Schmidt as “a tourist with no power” and portrayed him as a threat to Republika Srpska.
Schmidt is currently in New York, where he is expected to present a six-month report on Bosnia to the UN Security Council on Tuesday.
According to FAZ, Schmidt’s departure may not be entirely voluntary and “business interests linked to the Trump family could play a role.”
Dodik has developed closer ties with figures connected to U.S. President Donald Trump in recent months.
Donald Trump Jr. recently visited the Republika Srpska capital of Banja Luka on what officials described as a “friendly basis.”
Former U.S. presidential adviser Michael Flynn has also cultivated close relations with Republika Srpska and reportedly lobbied on behalf of the Serb entity.
The U.S.-brokered Dayton Agreement, signed in 1995, ended Bosnia’s three-and-a-half-year war by dividing the country into Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat Federation under a weak central government structure.
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