scandal in Bosnia-Herzegovina
Minister provokes German UN representative with Nazi helmet
Updated 11/21/2025 – 8:54 a.mReading time: 3 minutes
In Bosnia, the dispute with the German UN representative Christian Schmidt continues to escalate. A minister sends him a provocative package.
Bosnian Serb Foreign Trade Minister Stasa Košarac attacked the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, German diplomat Christian Schmidt. In one post he published a picture of an SS helmet, which he said he sent to Schmidt. Košarac explained that it was not a gift, but rather an “heirloom from Schmidt’s ancestors.”
Košarac called Schmidt an “occupier” and accused him of coming to Bosnia and Herzegovina without a valid permit. The minister wrote that Schmidt wanted to “occupy, enslave and subjugate” the country. In the letter accompanying the helmet, he said he emphasized that the German politician represented the values of his “National Socialist ancestors.” Košarac is a member of Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik’s Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD).
The German Christian Schmidt has been appointed by the United Nations to monitor compliance with the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement. The agreement was concluded on November 21, 1995 and ended the Bosnian War. It regulates the state order of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole state with two constituent entities – the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska – as well as a collective presidential system.
The High Representative has extensive powers. In particular, he is allowed to change laws. In 2023, Schmidt declared a Republic of Srpska law null and void. It was about a law that would allow the authorities there to ignore decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina if they believe they are “unconstitutional”.
Milorad Dodik, then President of the Republic of Srpska, signed this law anyway and put it into effect. The Bosnian public prosecutor’s office then opened a case against Dodik for failing to comply with the High Representative’s decisions. This is punishable under Bosnian law. He was sentenced to one year in prison in February. He was also banned from political activities.
At the beginning of August, Dodik was removed from office by the Bosnian parliament. The Bosnian Serb leader denounced the trial against him as politically motivated, and thousands of his supporters demonstrated against the verdict. Schmidt, on the other hand, was repeatedly accused of being biased.
