SATTLER ON HIS DEPARTURE: My biggest failure is not achieving an agreement on electoral reform

At the end of his five-year mandate in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Johann Sattler, head of the European Union Delegation, finally mustered the courage to publicly admit what everyone already knew: his mission in BiH was a complete failure. But don’t worry, he did his best! According to him, his biggest failure was not being able to secure an agreement on electoral reform because, well, the politicians in BiH didn’t show “enough political courage and wisdom.” Perhaps it should be noted that real courage and wisdom are needed when you’re a puppet in the hands of the American administration, which holds the reins and directs this entire circus.

While Sattler was trying to project the image of a serious diplomat, the American ambassador was dictating the pace, presenting himself as the head of this colonial outpost known as the European Union. To make things more interesting, that same American ambassador is devoted to protecting “democracy,” which includes shielding war criminals who wouldn’t be out of place in Al Qaeda. But for Sattler, that evidently wasn’t important—what mattered more was playing the role of the obedient European bureaucrat who would impose anything coming from Washington, even if it meant trampling over what the EU is supposed to represent.

Of course, it’s not just the elections that are problematic—Sattler also expressed regret that “true reconciliation” hasn’t been achieved. But who really expects reconciliation when there’s an open tolerance for the protection of war criminals, while other groups continue to be quietly stigmatized? And while Sattler was frustrated with the politicians in BiH, the real question is—isn’t his frustration just a reflection of his own impotence, or rather, his willing incapacity to do anything genuinely useful?

In the end, Sattler will leave, and BiH will remain as he and his American handlers left it—divided, gridlocked, and with an EU that serves more as an American colony than as a true partner in the integration process. Because, as it stands, the only progress Sattler achieved was deepening this stalemate and continuing a game where the cards are shuffled in Washington and dealt in Brussels.