Bosnia is temporarily overseen by an American. Behind the US-Europe dispute over the "viceroy" post, diplomats suspect a billion-dollar pipeline

Bosnia and Herzegovina has had a new international administrator since July 1 — but only a temporary one. On Tuesday in Sarajevo, the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) again failed to agree on a successor to the outgoing High Representative, Christian Schmidt, so the office was taken over by his American deputy, Louis Crishock. The powers set a deadline of July 14 to choose a permanent head, but behind the deadlock lies a fierce struggle between Washington and Europe — one in which European diplomats also suspect a billion-dollar pipeline is at play. OHR ↗

Who is the "High Representative" and why is the post so powerful

The Office of the High Representative (OHR) was established after the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement as an international oversight mechanism for Bosnia's fragile postwar order. Since 1997, its head has held so-called Bonn powers — the authority to impose laws and remove elected politicians if they are deemed to threaten peace. That is precisely why the post is referred to as an international "viceroy": whoever holds it holds the final safeguard over a state still divided into the Bosniak-Croat Federation and Republika Srpska. European Western Balkans ↗

Why Schmidt left

The German Christian Schmidt had led the office since 2021. He announced his departure in May and, in an interview with the newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine, admitted to "enormous and unexpected pressure from the US," though he avoided directly accusing President Donald Trump. EU Alive ↗ He had also angered Washington by annulling separatist moves by Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik last year. According to The Guardian, American officials demanded his immediate departure in May and began aggressively pushing for a replacement. His resignation took effect on July 1. The Guardian ↗

The battle crosses the Atlantic

For several weeks, Washington has been aggressively pushing 76-year-old Italian diplomat Antonio Zanardi Landi — to the surprise of most other members of the Steering Board, according to The Guardian, since Landi has no experience with Bosnia and has in the past shown sympathy toward Serbia. The Guardian ↗ London, Paris, and Berlin did not back his campaign, and by Monday had agreed instead on French envoy for the Balkans René Troccaz. However, they failed to maintain a united front against the American pressure. The dispute is not just about a name: Washington is increasingly skeptical about whether the international oversight dating from the 1990s still makes sense, and has threatened to "reconsider its role" if Landi does not get the post. European capitals, by contrast, want to preserve the office's strong mandate. EU Alive ↗

Behind the dispute is a billion-dollar pipeline

Washington has not officially explained why it is pushing so hard. However, according to The Guardian, European officials in Sarajevo link it to a new American priority in the region — the billion-dollar Southern Interconnection pipeline. The contract, awarded without a public tender, was provisionally won by the American company AAFS Infrastructure and Energy, which has minimal experience but ties to Trump's inner circle, and Brussels has warned this could jeopardize Bosnia's European integration. The Guardian ↗ Meanwhile, Dodik has sanctified the project — shortly after the president's son, Donald Trump Jr., visited Republika Srpska. The last remaining obstacles are the EU's objections and the fact that a third of the pipeline would have to run on state-owned land. According to one scenario outlined by an unnamed official in Sarajevo, the new High Representative could use a special law to divide state property between the two entities and unblock the construction. The Guardian ↗

How Sarajevo and Moscow read it

Domestic and regional media see the deadlock as further proof that Bosnia's fate is being decided elsewhere than in Sarajevo. The portal Klix.ba poses the question directly: "will the Americans break the Europeans?" Klix.ba ↗ Dodik has long questioned the very legitimacy of the office, claiming it "exceeds the constitutional framework of Dayton." Russia and China, meanwhile, have never recognized Schmidt's 2021 appointment, arguing it lacked the endorsement of the UN Security Council. So whomever the powers choose, the new representative may face the same challenges to his legitimacy. EU Alive ↗

What hotinfo is watching

Will the US and Europe reach an agreement by July 14, or will that deadline slip like the one in June? Will Landi's name prevail, or Troccaz's — and what would that say about the future of the office and its Bonn powers? Will any appointment set the Southern Interconnection pipeline and the division of state property between the entities in motion? And how will Dodik's Republika Srpska and Moscow react to a temporary American at the head of the office?