Mick Hartley

Another triumph for European diplomacy:

There is one thing that seems to unite all parties in Bosnia eleven years after the war: extreme dislike of the country’s international overseer, Christian Schwarz-Schilling, a German diplomat .

The 76-year-old regularly falls asleep in important meetings, fails to control hardline local politicians and has let international policy drift, according to officials and a report released today.

“International policy in Bosnia is in disarray, and a new engagement strategy is required,” said the International Crisis Group (ICG), a respected Brussels-based think-tank….

The report highlighted some of the shortcomings of Mr Schwarz-Schilling, who since January 2006 has held the position of High Representative, the country’s de facto international overseer.

Mr Schwarz-Schilling has been criticised by international and Bosnian diplomats and local officials.

Officials working for the Office of the High Representative OHR and other organisations have described how the unpopular German diplomat, who earns in excess of 200,000 per year, has dozed off in crucial meetings. One of the worst incidents was when Mr Schwarz-Schilling went to meet the Mothers of Srebrenica, the organisation representing the relatives of those 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men massacred in July 1995.

Despite efforts made by the mothers to keep him awake as he met them, including clapping, the diplomat fell asleep.