The President of Bosnia’s Republika Srpska (RS) entity Zeljka Cvijanovic said Friday in Banja Luka that the RS cannot accept this form of appointment of the new international community’s High Representative in BiH Christian Schmidt, calling for the protection of international law.

After a meeting with the leaders of political parties that make up the ruling coalition in this entity, Cvijanovic stressed that the manner in which the new High Representative was appointed was inconsistent with what the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the 1992-1995 war in the country, envisaged and that the international community was showing inconsistency.

“We understand that [incumbent High Representative] Valentin Inzko has been without credibility here for years, but that does not mean that clearly prescribed procedures should be circumvented when electing a new High Representative,” Cvijanovic told reporters in Banja Luka.

According to her, a group of ambassadors gathered at the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) behind this appointment.

The RS President also said that the position of all participants in the said meeting was that the manner in which the new High Representative was appointed was absolutely inconsistent with what was envisaged by the Dayton Agreement, ie the international act.

Cvijanovic stated that she would invite representatives of political parties from the opposition to a meeting on Saturday, to hear their opinion on this issue.

The Peace Implementation Council decided on Thursday, that the new High Representative, in charge of overseeing the civilian implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, should be a German diplomat Christian Schmidt. This decision was rejected by the Russian Embassy who warned that without its confirmation at the UN Security Council, Schmidt would not have the legal legitimacy to perform this function.