German Foreign Minister Heiko Mass on Thursday joined those who claim the current crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina is extremely dangerous and that it is necessary to stop the actions of the Serb entity's authorities which could result in the country's disintegration. Pročitaj više

“What we are seeing in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the worst political crisis since the end of the war in 1995 and I share that opinion,” Maas said in an interview with the Sarajevo Klix portal.

He said “the dangerous and irresponsible secessionist policy of the Republika Srpska authorities” was most responsible for that.

The entity has already decided to establish its own pharmaceutical agency, thus derogating the role of the state pharmaceutical agency, Maas recalled, adding that now, at the urging of Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of the BiH Presidency, Republika Srpska plans to adopt measures that would question BiH’s armed forces, judiciary, and tax and custom duty collection.

Maas said a nationalist policy was at work which was reopening old wounds and jeopardizing a peaceful future for the country.

“This path doesn’t solve any problem, while creating numerous new problems, especially for people in Republika Srpska. A permanent crisis, in conjunction with institutional chaos, a paralysis of desperately needed reforms and tensions which continue to grow, will drive away investors from the country, increase the number of the jobless and intensify emigration.”

Asked if Germany was willing to take concrete steps and punish the persons responsible for destructive behavior, Maas said the German government would not just stand by and watch was happening. Endangering peace will have direct consequences, he added.

“We neither can nor will direct German taxpayers’ money to an entity which is actively working on the destruction of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state. And we will also consider individual measures against those bringing this country’s territorial integrity into question.”

Mass said Germany was agreeing steps that could be taken with its European partners as well as the UK and the US.

He said Germany strongly supported Christian Schmidt as the international community’s High Representative to BiH, including in exerting his broad powers.

Maas called on everyone in BiH to turn to the necessary reforms instead of conflicts, including changes to the electoral law. That, however, “must not deepen the existing ethnic divisions.”