The High Representative and EU Special Representative today denied a statement attributed to him last night in the lead story on the RTRS main evening news, broadcast at 19:30 hrs on 14 October 2008.

RTRS reported that Miroslav Lajčák, in an interview for German news magazine Der Spiegel, “voiced the opinion that, after the municipal elections in BiH, the concept of a multiethnic BiH had definitively failed”.

This is not true. The High Representative never voiced such an opinion. In response to a question on whether the concept of a multiethnic state had failed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lajčák told Der Spiegel:

“The Dayton Peace Agreement has ended the war, but its philosophy of a multiethnic society is hard to achieve. The elections were won by those who say: first my people, then BiH. RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik says openly: when I speak about economic development, nobody listens, but when I shout ‘We won’t give up Republika Srpska’ they all applaud.”

Excerpts from the same interview, including quotes from the above answer, were rendered correctly by other BiH and international media, such as Deutsche Welle, B92, Dnevni Avaz, SRNA and Tanjug.

The High Representative has asked RTRS to publish his denial in the Evening News, in the same timeslot and place in which the incorrect statement was broadcast.

A full translation of the interview that the HR/EUSR has given to Der Spiegel can be found on the OHR (www.ohr.int) and EUSR (www.eusrbih.eu) websites.