High Representative Christian Schmidt condemns in the strongest terms the bellicose statement by the First Deputy Speaker of the BiH House of Peoples and SDA President, Bakir Izetbegović, at the party event in Hadžići on 25 July 2022.
“Warmongering and inflammatory statements, such as this one by Mr. Izetbegović, are dangerous and hark back to the tragic conflict in the 1990s. They spread fear amongst all citizens, add to tensions, and in no way contribute to the promotion of cooperation, stability, and reconciliation in the country. Mr. Izetbegović, together with all political leaders, should work on finding ways to keep the youngest and the brightest in the country instead of advocating for robots to replace them,” said the High Representative. “We have heard a lot more reasonable statements in the past, come back to them!”
The High Representative emphasized that irresponsible rhetoric must stop and urged all political leaders and officials to focus instead on the common goal of making BiH a good home for all its citizens: “This vicious circle of action and reaction – as exemplified when Mr. Izetbegović’s statement was almost immediately followed by another irresponsible statement from BiH Presidency member and SNSD President, Milorad Dodik – must stop! There is much more important work to be done.”