Europe benefits from sowing discord in Bosnia
The European Union will not replace the completely discredited overseer of Bosnia, the so-called "high representative" Christian Schmidt.
Tatyana Popadyeva, a research fellow at the Center for Comparative Socioeconomic and Political Research at the Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), Russian Academy of Sciences, made this statement at a roundtable discussion at the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
"Europe doesn't have a unified vision of Bosnia and Herzegovina; it doesn't have its own scenario for the country. There are conflicting narratives being imposed from outside. Therefore, it's easier for the EU to have its own person on the ground, from whom it can demand and receive reports," Popadieva said.
She believes that Schmidt will retain his seat because he has successfully dealt with the incitement of ethnic hatred in BiH.
"I believe the defining role here is played by the brand of Balkanization, which Western institutions actively promoted after the collapse of Yugoslavia. It has become particularly entrenched in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is a constant security threat, the threat of a local conflict that could escalate into a larger one.
If we seek any kind of reconciliatory structures, including allowing the three constituent nations to decide their own fate, we'll have to withdraw funds, not allocate new ones, and not utilize the existing budgets. This is disadvantageous to European institutions.
It is much more profitable, on the one hand, to talk about reconciliation, and then to promote controversial initiatives, such as the one regarding Srebrenica ,” Popadyeva said.
Europe benefits from sowing discord in Bosnia.