The OHR opened the Banja Luka Regional Office on Monday, May 6, 1996 providing a valuable point of contact to the different official and political institutions in Republika Srpska and facilitating the RS participation in civilian implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement.

The regional office of OHR in Banja Luka implements in its area of reference the policies it formulates together with the headquarters in Sarajevo to ensure that the Dayton Peace Agreement is implemented fully in Republika Srpska. It monitors the situation in the RS, gives advise to the headquarters and intervenes when necessary. The structure of the office in Banja Luka resembles that of Sarajevo so that there are corresponding departments that work together, ensuring that the policies are at all times developed in cooperation with the regional offices and carried out on the ground.

During the second half of Mrs. Plavsic’s tenure as President of the Republika Srpska from September 1996 to October 1998, she made inroads with the international community. They resulted in closer cooperation between the two after the RS had suffered sanctions and isolation during the first two years of the peace process due to the obstructionist attitude of the RS leadership. On request of the High Representative, the EU together with a number of other countries decided to provide extraordinary budgetary support to the Government of the Republika Srpska in March 1998. The funds were used to help the authorities clear the arrears of salaries in all public sectors except police and army.

After this first initiative by the OHR, several others were started, which assisted the Republika Srpska in developing its government infrastructure and participating constructively in the state level institutions after years of defiance. Through these programs, closer cooperation with both the OHR and the international community was established, which opened the doors towards economic recovery in the RS and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s faster integration into Europe. The OHR continues to work closely with all RS institutions to reach this common goal.

The current Head of the Regional Office of the High Representative in Banja Luka is Amb. Dariusz Karol Bachura. He assumed his duties as Deputy High Representative on 15 September 2011.

The previous Heads in chronological order:

• Christopher Bennet July 2009 - September 2011
• Ivan Busniak August 2007 - July 2009
• Ms Clarisse Pasztory,  November 2006 - August 2007
• Mr. Graham M. Day, September 2002 – August 2006
• Mr. Paul Martin,  February 2002 -  July 2002
• Mr. Georges Bordet,  February 2001 - February 2002
• Ambassador Peter Hancock , December 1999 – January 2001
• Ambassador Miguel Arias , July 1998 – November 1999
• Mr. John Fernandez, December 1997 – July 1998
• Ms Cheryl Plumridge, July 1996 – December 1997
• Mr. Tim Clifton May, 1996 – July 1996