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Top Austrian diplomat Valentin Inzko may be on the verge of retiring as Bosnia’s international representative. Inzko confirmed to the APA on Christmas Day that Bosnian media reports were looking for a successor for him. Former German agriculture minister Christian Schmidt is considered the favorite. After twelve years in office, he would welcome a change, Inzko said, considering he has been in office for almost as long as the six predecessors.
However, it is unclear whether the search for a successor will be successful. Due to complicated international decision-making mechanisms, it will also take months before the change is implemented.
Bosnian Serbs want to abolish posts
Observers see Schmidt’s nomination as a sign of the Western states’ renewed commitment to the former civil war country. Backed by the veto power of UN Russia, Bosnian Serbs have been campaigning for the abolition of the Bosnian Commissioner’s office for years. Because the West stood firm in office, Inzko had to play the international governor in Sarajevo well past his retirement age. The Carinthian diplomat has been Bosnian Commissioner since March 2009 and his term is not limited.
Inzko confirmed that Germany had sent Bavarian CSU politician Schmidt on the run as his successor. According to media reports, the German ambassador to Sarajevo, Margaret Uebber, is said to have already discussed the matter with members of the Bosnian state presidency, Zeljko Komsic and Sefik Dzaferovic.
Inzko calls for “a solid new policy in Bosnia”
“What would be of essential importance, however, would not be a change of person, but a change of paradigm,” Inzko called for a “new and solid Bosnian policy along the lines of ‘Biden, Brussels, Berlin'”. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Treaty, Inzko spoke out in favor of a greater role for the international community in the divided country. After the “less glorious phase of local solutions,” one now needs one “that is prescriptive, robust and time-bound again,” Inzko said in an APA interview in late November. “So once we finish our work, like the Allied forces in 1955, we should withdraw,” he made a comparison with post-war Austria.
Inzko placed high hopes on the current Presidency of the Council of the EU, Germany, the European Union and the new president of the United States, Joe Biden, who has been a long-time expert on the Balkans. With Inzko, EU special envoy Johann Sattler and EUFOR peacekeeping force commander Reinhard Trischak, Austria is providing the top three international leaders in Sarajevo. Austria is also the largest supplier of troops for Bosnian troops led by the EU. (apa)
