Christian Schmidt for DW: The question is whether we want to continue with Dayton

The outgoing High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kristijan Šmit, confirms that he did not make the decision to leave the position overnight.

"It's not like I woke up one morning and thought I could finish my work here now," Schmidt says in an interview with Deutsche Welle.

Media in BiH and Germany have been reporting for months, citing unnamed sources, that the end of Schmidt's mandate is approaching.

Schmidt did not want to answer the question about possible pressure on him, but said that he "is no longer running in the current political circumstances."

“We all feel that the political situation in the world has changed a lot, it has become very unstable,” said Schmidt, noting that Americans, Europeans, Japanese, Turks and British sit with him on the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council in BiH. “I need everyone’s support,” said Schmidt.

Schmidt said that a change in the political approach to Bosnia and Herzegovina is already partially underway, and confirmed that there is no consensus on this in the international community.

“Do we want to continue with Dayton or are we going to follow other approaches? What is the role of the international community? There are different opinions on that. I have to rely on having a consensus within the international community. I want to preserve that consensus, as paradoxical as it may sound. I believe that it can only be preserved if I take a step that I absolutely did not want to take – to withdraw myself from the negotiations, so to speak, and to open the way for others,” says Schmidt.

"The job is not finished"

Schmidt said that the work in BiH, however, is not finished and must continue.

In BiH, according to him, we are facing a key question, which is whether there is enough political will in the country for European integration or whether there are stronger destructive forces that want to destroy the country and its future.

"Everyone must understand that it is not a reassuring sign if things in the Balkans are falling apart," said Schmidt, adding that he is counting on the international community for this, and that Europeans and Americans are saying at a crucial moment: "No, now we are acting together and for Europe."

Schmidt mentioned SNSD President Milorad Dodik in the context of destructive forces, noting that all sanctions against him have been lifted.

"He hired a lobbying firm to fight for three things: to enable secession, or independence for Republika Srpska, to overturn the court verdicts against him, and for me to leave. He invested a lot of money in that," says Christian Schmidt in an interview with DW.

Schmidt, who said he wanted to be the last High Representative, declined to discuss a possible successor to the position, but said: "I can only say that anyone who comes here must know that this is a balancing act between mission impossible and small steps forward."