According to the portal istraga.ba, Italian diplomat Antonio Zanardi Landi, a former Italian ambassador to Belgrade, is being considered as his successor in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The report notes that since 2 September 2016, Zanardi Landi has served as ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to the Vatican.
From 2004 to 2006, he served as Italy’s ambassador to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. Between 2006 and 2007, he was Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome, after which he served as Italy’s ambassador to the Holy See and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta from 2007 to 2010.
From 2010 to 2013, he served as ambassador to the Russia and Turkmenistan, and from the summer of 2013 he held the position of diplomatic adviser to the President of Italy.
Zanardi Landi was born in Udine in 1950 and graduated in law from the University of Padua.
He began his diplomatic career in 1978 and, from 1979 to 1980, became the first Italian to study at France’s National School of Administration (École Nationale d’Administration – ENA) in Paris.
According to reports in certain media outlets, Schmidt had fallen out of favour with US President Donald Trump.
The German newspaper FAZ previously published an article claiming that an American company linked to Donald Trump was interested in building a gas pipeline in Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to FAZ, Schmidt expressed concern over the matter, thereby turning the Americans against him.
According to information obtained by the Sarajevo-based portal Klix, the United States is not only demanding Schmidt’s immediate departure, but is also requesting that his deputy, Louis Crishock, who serves as supervisor for the Brčko District, assume his duties until a new High Representative is selected.
Schmidt leaving for "private reasons"
Schmidt emphasised that he would remain in office until a new High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina is appointed.
The statement noted that during what has been the second-longest mandate of a High Representative, none of Schmidt’s decisions had been overturned by the courts, significant progress had been achieved, but much work still remains to be done.
Schmidt cited "private reasons" for his resignation.
The German politician from the conservative Christian Social Union in Bavaria succeeded Valentin Inzko in 2021. Inzko, an Austrian diplomat, remains the longest-serving High Representative, having held the post for more than 12 years.
The High Representative of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, acting on behalf of the United Nations, oversees and coordinates the implementation of the Dayton Agreement, which ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995.
(EUpravo zato/Klix.ba/Avaz.ba)
