The high representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina has admitted that pressure from the US has contributed to his decision to resign early from the post.
Christian Schmidt, a German conservative politician, who has served in the post since August 2021, announced his resignation on May 12 citing a "personal decision."
But when asked by Germany's Augsburger Allgemeine daily whether US President Donald Trump had pushed him to leave his job as the international community’s top envoy in Bosnia, Schmidt acknowledged that Washington had played a part in his decision.
While he said he did not know Trump's personal opinion in the matter, he said: “All I can say is that there has been enormous and unexpected pressure from the US.”
In the interview published on Saturday, Schmidt said he had wanted to prevent the institution of the high representative from being "damaged by this discussion, the background to which is not entirely clear to me."
The high representative holds significant powers to uphold the 1995 Dayton Agreement, which ended the Bosnian War. The UN-backed office includes the authority to dismiss elected officials, enact laws and establish new institutions.
The Trump administration has increasingly thrown support behind the separatist politician Milorad Dodik, who has been pushing for the secession of Republika Srpska (RS), the Serbian part of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Since the end of the 1992-95 Bosnian war, Bosnia-Herzegovina has comprised two entities: the Bosniak-Croat Federation, with its largely Croatian and Bosniak Muslim population, and the predominantly Serbian RS. The components enjoy far-reaching autonomy, except in foreign, defence and security policy.
During his time in office, Schmidt annulled a number of RS laws designed to pave the way for RS secession.
Pressure on Schmidt to resign might also be linked to former RS president Dodik supporting gas power plant and pipelines projects driven by business people close to Trump, including a pipeline from Croatia to Bosnia.
“The issue did play a part – but I was never against this project," Schmidt said.
He stressed that the pipeline from Croatia to Bosnia was initiated by the EU to reduce Bosnia and Herzegovina's dependence on Russian oil and gas.
"That makes me all the more surprised that the same EU has not managed to build this pipeline using European funds, but that Bosnia now needs the Americans for this, who are partly bringing their own ideas to the table.”
