WASHINGTON NO LONGER AGREES WITH GERMANY'S ROLE IN BiH

BELGRADE, JUNE 6 /SRNA/ – Former Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Živadin Jovanović, told SRNA that Germany had overplayed its hand through decades of arrogance and its managerial role in BiH, which irritated Washington, too, as it was evident at a session of the Peace Implementation Council /PIC/ in Sarajevo, where no consensus on a new high representative was reached.

Jovanović said he believes that the institution of the High Representative in BiH was, from the beginning, an artificial and anachronistic arrangement, and that those who had long pointed to its outdated and counterproductive nature had now received vindication, particularly the leadership of Republika Srpska. He recalled that Republika Srpska leadership had consistently pointed to how it was harmful and unacceptable, how the High Representative had become a source of problems and instability rather than a guarantor of the Dayton Peace Agreement. Jovanović assessed that a new high representative would probably be appointed but would not be able to act in the same manner as previous officeholders or misuse either the so-called Bonn Powers or the geopolitical interests of the country from which they come. He argued that the new high representative's primary task should be to serve as the last holder of the office and prepare local politicians for a peaceful transition toward normalization. Jovanović reiterated that the institution of the High Representative had, from the beginning, represented a solution inconsistent with democratic principles, arguing that it limited sovereignty and territorial integrity, which culminated in the adoption of the so-called Bonn Powers. "I personally know that Germany was never satisfied with how it was treated at Dayton. German officials have often said that the European Union's role was not sufficiently recognised there and that the Americans kept it on the sidelines," Jovanović said. He added that Germany waited for an opportunity, which came in 1997 when a peace implementation conference was held in Bonn, where a detailed document was adopted based on the premise that BiH was not independent requiring tutelage. According to him, Germany viewed the adoption of the Bonn Powers as a form of satisfaction and assumed a dominant role, while, over time, it became clear to the Americans how illogical and counterproductive it is and how far the process of turning the high representative into a tool for promoting Berlin's geopolitical interests.