FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

November 5, 2021 (Updated November 9, 2021)

CONTACT

Nick Zuroski | (202) 822-2047 | nick@allianceforpeacebuilding.org

AfP Calls on the U.S. and International Community to Take Immediate Steps to Prevent Violence and Conflict in BiH and ensure the Unity of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Washington, D.C., USA. –  The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP), the leading nonpartisan global network of 150+ members working in 181 countries to end violent conflict and build sustainable peace, is deeply concerned about the significantly deteriorating security conditions in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The diplomatic community's inadequate response fails to address the immediate crisis and weakens the Office of the High Representative in BiH. The U.S. and the international community must act now to prevent violence and conflict and build sustainable peace in BiH and throughout the region utilizing all available diplomatic and development tools.

Although BiH has avoided full-scale war since 1995, the country has never been closer to another ethnic crisis than it is today. Security and stability in BiH is spiraling amidst threats from Milorad Dodik to reconstitute the Serb army and withdraw from state-level institutions. Dodik is empowered by support from nationalistic politicians in Croatia, as well as by Russian diplomats seeking to diminish the sovereignty of BiH and prevent the country from joining NATO.

While representatives of the U.S. at the United Nations expressed concern over Mr. Dodik’s statement to withdraw the Republika Srpska “entirely” from the Government, adding that such assertions represent “a dangerous path” for BiH and the region, the wider U.S. response to this increasingly unstable situation is insufficient. Indeed, the U.S.’s proposed piecemeal constitutional and electoral law solutions may serve to entrench ethnic divides, and announced economic development assistance will not meet the scale of the crisis.

Additionally, recent media reports from the U.S., the United Kingdom, and BiH found that the High Representative to BiH, Christian Schmidt, could not present his annual report to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The act of silencing Mr. Schmidt at the UNSC represents a grave threat to the Office of the High Representative, an international institution responsible for overseeing the implementation of civilian aspects of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the war in BiH. The alleged deal by the U.S., the United Kingdom, and France with the Russian Federation to extend the mandate of the NATO-backed European Union force (EUFOR) resulted in the striking of all references to the Office of the High Representative in the resolution. However, the report from the Office of the High Representative is now public and offers a dire assessment:

As of the writing of this report, Bosnia and Herzegovina faces the greatest existential threat of the postwar period. Persistent, grave challenges to the fundamentals of the General Framework Agreement for Peace (GFAP) by the Republika Srpska (RS) entity authorities, led by the biggest RS party, the Alliance for Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) headed by BiH Presidency member Milorad Dodik, endanger not only the peace and stability of the country and the region, but—if unanswered by the International Community—could lead to the undoing of the Agreement itself.

AfP calls on the U.S. to use all available diplomatic and development tools to de-escalate the political and ethnic tensions in BiH and to reinforce support for the Office of High Representative, rather than diminish its critical civilian oversight of the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords. The U.S. should also apply its newly announced enhanced sanctions, which reinforce the 2017 targeted sanctions regime against Dodik imposed for his rule of law violations, defiance of the BiH Constitutional Court, and obstruction of the Dayton Accords. The U.S. should work with its European counterparts and UN colleagues to institute complimentary sanctions to multiply their effect. Furthermore, the U.S. must urge NATO to undertake immediate contingency planning, as outlined by the Democratization Policy Council, to address the reconstitution of Bosnian Serb forces in BiH and further threats to the integrity of the BiH state and the implementation of the Dayton Accords, per Annex 1A.

We urge the U.S. and the international community to act decisively and urgently. Without immediate, coordinated action to stem nationalist tides in BiH, curb the Serbian separatists’ efforts to create a "Serbian world” movement, push back against the increasingly corrosive influence of Russia, undertake tangible legal reform that protects the fundamental rights of the BiH people, and bolster the credibility and support of the Office of the High Representative, the state’s breakup and ethnic violence and conflict is a credible and serious threat.

Liz Hume is the Acting CEO of the Alliance for Peacebuilding and from 1997 to 2000 she was seconded by the US Department of State to the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Bosnia and Herzegovina as the Chief Legal Counsel and Head of the Election Commission Secretariat where she was responsible for developing the legal framework and policies in support of the implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords.

Tanya Domi is a Senior Fellow for Peacebuilding at the Alliance for Peacebuilding and served as Counselor to the Head of Mission and Spokesperson at the OSCE Mission to BiH, 1996-2000. She is currently the President of the Advisory Board of the Post Conflict Research Center based in Sarajevo.

With more than 150 member organizations, AfP brings together the largest development organizations, most innovative academic institutions, and influential humanitarian and faith-based groups to harness collective action for peace. We build coalitions in key areas of strategy and policy to elevate the entire peacebuilding field, tackling issues too large for any one organization to address alone.