Point of order by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at UNSC briefing on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mme.President,
We want to raise a point of order, in which we must say that we do not consider Mr.Christian Schmidt, a citizen of Germany, as a legitimate High Representative. The Security Council did not issue a corresponding approval of his appointment to this office. We would like to stress that the issue of Bosnia and Herzegovina stands on UNSC agenda as per Article VII of the UN Charter, and there is a 25-year long practice of UNSC endorsing all High Representatives. Attempts to circumvent this practice look ever more cynical in a situation when initiatives that are destructive for BiH come from states that claim to be guardians of best traditions of jurisprudence and precedent law.
We emphasize that Mr.Schmidt has no right to speak on behalf of the international community or submit any documents to the Security Council. The argument that he was allegedly appointed following the decision of the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council stands up to no criticism, which we underscored on numerous occasions.
We consider the Office of the High Representative to remain vacant still. Therefore we see no reason why Mr.Schmidt should be invited to brief at this meeting as a High Representative. His presence in this room in this capacity undermines the authority of the Security Council and the United Nations at large.
At the same time, the Security Council has a practice that allows individuals to brief in their personal capacity in order to determine whether their further participation is required. This is how we will consider the presence of Mr.Schmidt here today.
