Bosnia and Herzegovina is expected to receive a new High Representative following the meeting of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC), scheduled for June 3–4. This time, the United States is reportedly entering the meeting with its own candidate.
If the American candidate is selected, it would mark the first time in the history of the Office of the High Representative (OHR) that the institution is led by a representative from the United States.
Until now, an unwritten rule has been that the post is held by a European diplomat, while the deputy position is traditionally assigned to a U.S. official, writes Rks News.
The current High Representative is German Christian Schmidt, while his deputy is the American Louis Crishock. According to unofficial information, the American candidate is William Ruger, who currently serves as deputy director in national intelligence agencies in the administration of President Donald Trump. However, his candidacy is seen as a “bridge option.”
Diplomatic sources say Ruger may be a deliberately proposed candidate to be presented as unacceptable to European countries in the PIC, so that another candidate—Italian diplomat Antonio Zanardi Landi—would emerge as a compromise solution.
These sources also add that Landi is not without controversy, as some European countries reportedly have reservations about his alleged ties to Russia.
However, there is still no clear picture of who will succeed Christian Schmidt, who has announced his resignation.
What is clear, according to reports, is that the United States is showing strong interest in the process and in the future role of the OHR in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
