Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UNSC Briefing on Bosnia and Herzegovina
We supported the adoption of the resolution extending the mandate of the European Union Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) for another year-period. We note that the command of Operation Althea takes a balanced position and does not interfere in the internal political affairs of BiH. We trust that the mission will continue to operate strictly within the framework of its mandate and that the European Union forces will play a stabilizing role in ensuring peace and security in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Today's meeting is unique in nature. It is being held on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the initialing and signing of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is known as the Dayton Agreement. However, we have to note with deep concern that this year has been marked by a crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is the most large-scale one over the entire post-Dayton period. The key role of the Security Council, which endorsed the Dayton Agreement by adopting resolution 1031, remains more than relevant. It is the fifth time in 2025 that the Council has convened a briefing on the Bosnian issue, which indeed attests to the chronic systemic nature of pressing inter-ethnic problems and contradictions.
The current situation in BiH is largely the consequence of pernicious actions by certain Western countries, including those that have assumed the obligation to advance post-conflict settlement. Instead of facilitating internal mutually respectful dialogue and fostering the quest for compromise solutions to pressing issues between the Bosnian and Herzegovinian parties, we are witnessing an egotistical desire at any cost to preserve control of an external actor over a sovereign country. In pursuit of their parochial agenda, the West, without hesitation, is sacrificing years-long international stabilization efforts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, disrupting the BiH architecture of governance established in Dayton and diluting the national identity of the Bosnian peoples, who are being forced to embrace values that are alien to their culture.
This dangerous policy is geared towards eroding the finely-calibrated Dayton system reflecting the balance of interests of three equal constituent peoples and two entities of BiH with broad constitutional powers, and this policy does have a blatantly anti-Serb bias. Bosnian Croats are hardly on an equal footing either, as they are deprived of their right to legitimate representation in the governing bodies. Under the guise of allegedly ensuring state-building and the notorious operations of the bureaucratic apparatus in the pan-Bosnian governing institutions, there is a gross violation of the Dayton Agreement, which is the formation of unlawful, unconstitutional algorithms for the adoption and implementation of decisions by representatives of merely one of the three constituent peoples in order to pursue Western interests in the country. A striking example of this is the instrumentalization and politicization of the tragedy in Srebrenica.
Attempts to shift responsibility for all Bosnian problems onto the Republika Srpska under various far-fetched pretexts do not withstand any criticism. The Serbs envision the future BiH without the notorious external protectorate, and they are willing indeed to take responsibility for the fate of the country alongside the Bosniaks and Croats, but such a mature vision of theirs does not fit in with the plans of Western capitals in the Balkans. It has come to the point whereby the no longer independent judicial and electoral bodies are reshaping the electoral will of BiH citizens, and exerting pressure on those who oppose external dictates; and this is being done through sanctions, threats, political repression, and persecution.
This neo-colonial practice reached its pinnacle with the appointment of German citizen Christian Schmidt as High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was done in breach of the established procedure and without the consent of the Council. We would like to stress that the Security Council is the sole body authorized to approve the High Representative in BiH, and we do not recognize Mr. Schmidt as such.
Mr. Schmidt himself spawned a monstrous legal mess. In an attempt to justify his entirely unsubstantiated presence in BiH, the foreigner began to impose so-called “solutions” on the peoples of another country. The pseudo-High Representative is entirely divorced from reality, and it can be easily seen in his “report,” the purpose of which is to create a false impression of what is going on in BiH, and shift responsibility for the crisis onto the Republika Srpska, which, in turn, is indeed defending the foundations of the Dayton Agreement.
A blatant manifestation of the West's egregious disrespect for BiH as an independent European state is not just seen in the activities of Mr. Schmidt, but also in the operations of the Office of the High Representative (OHR). Moreover, it has long been drawn in the dependency on local stakeholders, who are evading dialogue and the search for solutions precisely because someone else will do it for them. This is confirmed by letters to the Security Council from former and current Bosniak politicians who are defending Mr. Schmidt.
Addressing the question of the prompt termination of the OHR's activities is long overdue. Its activities are incompatible with the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In this regard, we demand that Western countries immediately halt such experiments and cease interfering in the internal affairs of this country.
At the same time, we note the dangerous nature of the belligerent anti-Serb rhetoric emanating from certain actors in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its representatives in pan-Bosnian institutions. Threats of armed escalation are not acceptable.
The leadership of the Serb entity, however, is demonstrating a rational mindset and has repeatedly proposed initiatives to establish a constructive intra-Bosnian dialogue. Banja Luka's principled position vis-à-vis the current situation has been set out in its latest report, which we distributed at the UN Security Council at the request of our Serb-Bosnian colleagues. We trust that the Council members have closely studied the report, as it provides an opportunity to objectively analyze the root causes and consequences of the crisis mentioned above.
We are convinced that Dayton remains the only basis for a settlement in BiH. The only path to peaceful coexistence and prosperity of Bosnian people lies through upholding the Dayton-proven principles for the operation of this state, namely equal rights of the three constituent peoples and two entities, elimination the OHR, respect for the right of the peoples of BiH to development. Any attempts to distort the Dayton foundation will have catastrophic consequences for BiH and the entire Western Balkans region. The Security Council has a duty to prevent such a scenario from unfolding.
For its part, Russia, as one of the guarantors of the 1995 Peace Agreement, stands ready to constructively engage so as to facilitate a genuine post-conflict settlement in BiH.
Thank you.
