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The Dayton Agreement has paved the way for nationalist and secessionist forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina and it is time for a change, former High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schwarz-Schilling, evaluated in the author’s text for Deutsche Welle.
Photo: EPA / OLIVIER HOSLETOn the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina on November 21, 1995, the author claims that the aggressor was ultimately rewarded with the territorial division of Bosnia and Herzegovina outlined by the Agreement Dayton and those attacked were punished. agreement.
Schwarz-Schilling estimates that the Dayton Agreement essentially deprived democratic minorities of their rights, because they practically do not exist in the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which considers only three ethnic groups (Bosnian-Muslims, Croats and Serbs) as constituent peoples. .
The basic rights of many Bosnians and Herzegovina were erased by the Dayton Agreement, which, the author adds, made it impossible to govern Bosnia and Herzegovina.
All of the Dayton negotiators at the time knew that the Peace Agreement and the Constitution embodied in it were indeed too complicated, imperfect, and that there was an obstacle in them at every turn. However, they hoped, as Holbrooke told me in Dayton, that over time, if necessary and with the help of the High Representative, they would change the Agreement step by step, writes Schwarz-Schilling.
But, he adds, in the last 25 years, changes to the Constitution, and therefore to the Dayton Accords, have failed the international community or the Bosnians and Herzegovinians.
At present, Bosnia and Herzegovina is unstable, the rule of law barely exists, corruption is at a high level, poverty and social insecurity are constantly increasing, and the population is declining as young and skilled people leave Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, the Dayton Agreement and the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina remain unchanged, undermining democratic rights and thus leading the country to greater hopelessness and to move further and further away from the EU, the article read. text.
Schwarz-Schilling also points out that the international community still does not have a constructive role: it is divided, disinterested and has made the same mistakes for years as in the 1990s, tolerating the aggressive and nationalistic rhetoric of many politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina who glorify convicted war criminals.
The author emphasizes that today we must especially appeal to the responsibility of the international community to take Bosnia and Herzegovina more seriously in order to find a solution to remove the country from the status quo imposed by the Dayton Agreement.
Russia, a strong actor, having its own interests, has been interfering in the region for a long time and mainly uses Serbia as an outstretched hand to create unrest on the political landscape and oppose the EU and the US. An example Recent post-election nationalist incidents in Montenegro should be a red line for everyone, adds Schwarz-Schilling.
In a text by the author for DW titled “How Dayton Destroys Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Schwarz-Schilling concludes that Bosnia and Herzegovina is the biggest loser in the so-called Yugoslav wars “and that” it is time for Bosnia and Herzegovina to experience justice ” .
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