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Join this channel to get access to perks: Otvoreno pismo diplomata Evropskoj Uniji We, the undersigned, all Ambassadors and General Consuls of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), write this open letter addressed to EU officials and fellow Ambassadors and other diplomats representing EU member states, to express condemnation and protest of continued violations of international law, the Dayton Agreement, the Constitution of BiH and laws within BiH. This utter discard for law and the trampling of the rule of law represent a direct threat to peace and stability within BiH and the Western Balkans as a whole. At a time when we, our citizens and elected officials within BiH, were all celebrating the decision to finally begin negotiations on EU membership, and as we sought to build upon the momentum for reform created by this decision, illegal and malicious actions by outside actors crushed our enthusiasm and optimism. We now find ourselves dealing with the greatest threat to BiH, peace and stability since the end of the civil war in our country. Unfortunately, Mr. Christian Schmidt and a few ambassadors representing EU member states, the United Kingdom and the United States of America are conducting this destructive and illegal behavior. It has become abundantly clear, that this behavior which some international scholars and legal experts consider criminal and part of an organized conspiracy to sabotage BiH internal compromise and consensus painfully forged by elected leaders, has succeeded in blocking further compromise in BiH. It seems that these outside actors seek to create instability and discord, which could then be used to justify even more radical interference in the internal affairs of BiH and could be used as an excuse to attempt the removal of democratically elected leaders who refuse to accept illegal decisions forced upon BiH. We call upon these actors to cease their illegal activities and to abide by international law, including the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) and the Dayton Accords. We ask that the EU and its member states clearly condemn these threats to peace and security and that they do everything in their power to reaffirm the fundamental democratic principle of the rule of law. Mr. Schmidt and the self-empowered Peace Implementation Council (PIC) do not have any mandate under international law to assume executive, judicial or legislative powers within BiH, nor to take actions to undermine the sovereignty of BiH, its legal institutions of governance and its elected representatives. UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has also confirmed that Mr. Schmidt holds no UN mandate nor has any Security Council approval for the role he has illegally assumed. Either BiH is a candidate country beginning negotiations for membership in the EU or it is a quasi-protectorate under malicious foreign rule. It cannot be both simultaneously. If these outside actors against peace and stability within BiH continue in their illegal actions, then we call upon all BiH officials and representatives to end their participation in negotiations with the EU, thus allowing Mr. Schmidt and his international supporters to fully usurp this process, imposing reforms and compliance with the EU acquis outside of BiH institutions and without the support of BiH elected leaders. Of course, this would be illegitimate and would make a mockery of the EU accession process and of the rule of law, however this mockery has already taken root through “several dictates” and continued outside interference in the fragile negotiating process within BiH. For all of these reasons, we call upon you to take a stand for the rule of law and the respect of international law. This is the only way to insure peace and security within BiH and the Western Balkans. Most importantly, it is the only way to preserve the integrity of the EU accession process while maintaining the fragile consensus within BiH needed for further reform. It is time to rein in Mr. Schmidt, end the illegal use of the “Bonn Powers,“ close the Office of the High Representative and in this way return BiH on the path of internal negotiations, compromise and reforms. Siniša Bencun Siniša Berjan Biljana Gutić Bjelica Aleksandar Bogdanić Boro Bronza Aleksandar Vranješ Bojan Vujić Dragan Vuković Bojan Đokić Milorad Živković Dragan Jaćimović Obrad Kesić Bojana Kondić Panić Duško Kovačević Aleksandra Mičić Vera Sajić Tatjana Telić Koviljka Špirić
