Russian Ambassador to BiH: “The High Representative of the West is illegitimate”
The lack of approval from the UN Security Council for the appointment of Christian Schmidt as High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina deprives him of the necessary legitimacy, says Russian Ambassador to this country Igor Kalabukhov.
The diplomat told the Srna agency about this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Answering a journalist’s question whether Schmidt’s appointment represents an attempt by Western partners in the Peace Implementation Council to curb Russian influence in the Balkans, Kalabukhov said that the opposite often happens, because Russia’s influence is stronger the more they try to limit it.
“It's easy to explain. Russia is committed to complying with international law, and not inventing mythical rules, relying on the interests of those who want to rule the world, the Russian ambassador said. “Unfortunately, the real situation is that some countries, hiding behind the mask of the “international community,” are trying to realize their selfish interests in BiH.
At the same time, they openly manipulate public opinion, deliberately destabilizing the situation in the country in order to play on unresolved mutual contradictions and fears.”
Kalabukhov also noted that they are trying to preserve the Office of the High Representative “contrary to international law and common sense,” despite the fact that it “has lost its practical usefulness due to the need to fulfill utopian conditions.” And he noted that, without going through the approval procedure in the UN Security Council, the current High Representative does not have legitimacy.
“In our opinion, this is absolutely incompatible with the hypocritical statements of our international partners about supporting the sovereignty of BiH, while they are doing everything to deprive the country of such sovereignty for as long as possible,” the ambassador concluded.
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