The Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) is meeting for the second time this month in an effort to select the next High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has confirmed that the PIC meeting is currently taking place in Sarajevo.
During its first meeting, held on June 3–4, member states failed to reach an agreement on the successor to High Representative Christian Schmidt, who has announced that he will step down after serving for just over five years.
While the United States supports Italian diplomat Antonio Zanardi Landi, who also has the backing of Italy, the other European Union member states within the PIC have nominated French diplomat René Trocaz for the position.
Last week, the U.S. Department of State told RFE/RL that Washington expects the new High Representative to assume office by the end of June.
Neither the United States nor the other PIC member states have specified what will happen to the Office of the High Representative (OHR) if no agreement is reached by that non-binding deadline.
As of the publication of this report, the embassies of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy had not responded to RFE/RL’s questions regarding the future of the OHR or the responsibilities the office is expected to have going forward.
The European Union, meanwhile, responded to an earlier inquiry from RFE/RL by saying it is still working to appoint a new High Representative who will represent “unity and consensus.”
Brussels stated that the candidate must come from an EU member state and reaffirmed the bloc’s commitment to the stability, security, and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as to its European future as “a single, united, and sovereign state.”
Who are the leading candidates?
At present, the two main contenders are Antonio Zanardi Landi and René Trocaz.
Landi, 76, is a career diplomat who has served as Italy’s ambassador to Russia, the Holy See, Serbia, and Montenegro.
He currently serves as Malta’s ambassador to the Holy See.
Throughout his nearly 50-year diplomatic career, he has also held postings at embassies in Ottawa, Tehran, and London.
