SCHWARZ SCHILLNG - DAYTON

SCHWARZ SCHILLING Former High Representative in BiH: 'It is impossible to govern that country, it is threatened with disintegration' Dayton has cemented the path of nationalist and secessionist forces in BiH that seek to break up the state, writes C. Schwarz-Schilling By: Christian Schwarz-Schilling / Deutsche WellePosted: September 27, 2020 1:23 pm Slobodan Milosevic, Alija Izetbegovic and Franjo Tudjman Slobodan Milosevic, Alija Izetbegovic and Franjo Tudjman John Ruthroff / AFP Facebook Twitter Messenger E-mail This year marks 25 years since the American town of Dayton (Ohio) went down in history. There, on November 21, 1995, after almost four years, the war in BiH ended after negotiations on a peace agreement, signed by the three then presidents Slobodan Milosevic , Franjo Tudjman and Alija Izetbegovic , on December 14, 1995 in Paris. 25 years after the signing of the Dayton Agreement, we must take a look at its origin, content and consequences, in order to understand the current situation in BiH. The emergence of the Dayton Agreement In early 1994, the US administration of President Bill Clinton became heavily involved in then-war BiH for a number of reasons, and in March 1994, it mediated between Bosniak-Muslims and Bosnian Croats to establish the Federation of BiH. The federal model served the "Contact Group", made up of the United States, Britain, France, Russia and Germany, as a cornerstone for later peace agreement negotiations, Christian Schwarz-Schilling writes for Deutsche Welle . The then-Contact Group's plan was based on a proposal by Russia, Britain and France to persecute, ie "ethnic cleansing" committed by Serbs, and to grant them 49% of BiH's territory, although according to the 1991 census. year in BiH lived only 31% of Serbs. Later, even the relocation of different ethnic groups was accepted, only to better differentiate between "homogeneous" ethnic groups - Serbs on the one hand and federations with Bosniaks and Croats on the other. The United States, which had long opposed the recognition of war conquests, nevertheless made a political turn in early 1995 and recognized the same war conquests, ie "ethnic cleansing", and thus the territorial division in favor of the Serbs. Germany was the last country to agree to such a paradigm shift. With this territorial division, outlined by the Dayton Accords, the aggressor was eventually rewarded, and the attacked were punished. Can we talk about a just peace agreement here? Content of the agreement Under strong pressure from American negotiators, led by Richard Holbrooke, the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina ended in Dayton on November 21, 1995. Bosnia and Herzegovina remained a state, but was divided into two entities: the Federation of BiH with a Croat and Muslim population and the Republika Srpska with a predominantly Serb population. A special administrative area of ​​Brcko has also been established. The international community has envisioned the High Representative to oversee the implementation of the civilian part of the Dayton Accords. Three ethnic groups have been vetoed to protect their "vital national interests" to avoid tensions and possible disputes. Since then, it also means that members of the Presidency and the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliament can block any decision if the "constituent people" see the threat to their own vital interests. After nearly four years of war with more than 100,000 victims, over two million refugees, mass rapes, prisoner-of-war camps and the Srebrenica genocide, Bosnian Serbs have been assigned half of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Dealing with war crimes took place both then and today - with difficulty, with a lot of effort and with great effort. The Dayton Accords favored major war crimes actors in this segment. Despite everything, everyone was relieved when the contract was signed. After almost four long years, the international community has collected the broken fragments of its own weaknesses from the war in BiH - unfortunately too late for many people. And Bosnians and Herzegovinians had to reorient themselves. Under the Dayton Accords, refugees had the right to return home, which in the new situation meant returning to the newly created, ethnically divided entities. In practice, however, this return to the old homeland looked completely different. Many gave up after years of unsuccessful attempts, sold the property and moved out. The earth continued to divide and "cleanse." The Dayton Agreement has basically taken away democratic rights from all minorities, they practically do not exist in the BiH Constitution, which provides for only three ethnic groups (Bosniaks-Muslims, Croats and Serbs) as constituent peoples. The basic rights of many Bosnians and Herzegovinians were erased by the Dayton Accords and distorted by the legal torso. RELATED NEWS Pedja Grbin, Zeljko Kolar THE END OF THE DRAMA Counting 97.5 percent of the votes, Grbin and Kolar go to the second round of the race for Bernardic's successor THEY ARE LOOKING FOR A BETTER LIFE Široka Drina: A great report on migrants who got stuck on their way to Croatia Consequences of Dayton It must be said that the Dayton Agreement made Bosnia and Herzegovina impossible to govern. I spent years studying the Agreement and the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is part of it, and tried unsuccessfully to amend the Constitution during my term as High Representative in 2006. All the Dayton negotiators at the time knew that the Peace Agreement and the Constitution incorporated into it were in fact overcomplicated, imperfect, and that there was a stumbling block in them at every turn. They hoped, however, as Richard Holbrooke told me at the time in Dayton, that they would change the Agreement step by step, if necessary and with the help of the High Representative. However, in the last 25 years, no one has succeeded, neither the international community nor the Bosnians and Herzegovinians in changing the Constitution, and thus the Dayton Agreement. The then head of the German delegation to Dayton, Wolfgang Ischinger, said the contract was to include a mandatory review clause, so changes to the Agreement were to be made after about three years. Today's BiH is unstable, the rule of law is difficult to exist, corruption is high, poverty and social insecurity are constantly growing, and the decline in population, because young and qualified people are leaving BiH, has been almost unstoppable for years. The Dayton Agreement and the BiH Constitution, however, remain unchanged, undermining democratic rights and thus leading the country deeper into hopelessness and further and further away from the EU, writes Christian Schwarz-Schilling for DW . The international community still lacks a constructive role, is divided, disinterested, and has been making the same mistakes for years as it did in the 1990s. Has the terrible war of that time been forgotten? The international community tolerates the aggressive and nationalist rhetoric of many Bosnian politicians, who have been praising convicted war criminals for years. She could call on the help of a High Representative armed with Bonn powers to change that, but she does not. Today, the responsibility of the international community to take Bosnia and Herzegovina more seriously must be appealed to in order to find a solution to get the country out of the status quo imposed by the Dayton Agreement. Or should BiH be allowed to simply fall apart after all? BiH as the biggest loser A strong player is Russia, which has its own interests and has been interfering in the situation in the region for a long time, and mainly uses Serbia as an extended hand to bring unrest to the political landscape and to oppose the EU and the USA. A recent example of nationalist incidents following the Montenegrin elections should be a red line for all. Bosnia and Herzegovina is the biggest loser in the so-called Yugoslav wars. The "strength of facts" has determined political action and coexistence in all segments of life in BiH for 25 years since the establishment of Dayton - and this has nothing to do with reconciliation and justice after the war. On the contrary, the Dayton Accords cemented the path of nationalist and secessionist forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which have been striving to break up the state for decades. Twenty-five years ago, then-BiH President Alija Izetbegovic said after the signing of the Dayton Accords: "And I tell my people: this may not be a just peace, but it is fairer than the continuation of the war. In a situation like this, a better peace cannot be achieved "God is our witness that we have done everything in our power to reduce the level of injustice for our country and our people." But we all know that without justice there can be no lasting peace. It is time for Bosnia and Herzegovina to experience justice, concludes Christian Schwarz-Schilling for DW . Facebook Twitter Messenger E-mail #Bosnia And Herzegovina #Dayton Agreement #Policy Do you want to supplement the topic or report an error in the text? Show comments