AN OPEN LETTER TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, Circele 99

ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT INTELLECTUALS “KRUG 99”

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Date: 60. 06. 2026.

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

Addressed to: The European Union (The European Commission and the Council of the EU), the European Parliament, the Peace Implementation Council (PIC), and all Embassies of foreign states in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Subject: Protection of the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina and state property, and the demand for a principled mandate for the future High Representative and the OHR

Dear Representatives of the International Community,

We address you on behalf of the Association of Independent Intellectuals “Krug 99” at a fateful moment for the stability and future of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the entire Western Balkans region. With deep concern, we are witnessing a dangerous paradigm shift in parts of international politics toward our country – a transition from a long-standing strategy of “building democratic institutions” to a policy of subordinating state interests to narrow, short-term business interests.

We warn you that treating Bosnia and Herzegovina as a testing ground for short-term business interests and the private profits of politically connected lobbyists directly undermines the peace that has been painstakingly maintained for thirty years. Attempts to appease ethno-nationalist leaders in exchange for dubious economic arrangements, and to weaken state institutions, represent geopolitical irresponsibility that pushes the region into renewed instability.

In this context, Krug 99 expresses the following ultimate demands and positions in the strongest possible terms:

State Property is the Red Line of State Sovereignty and Survival

State property and the critical infrastructure of Bosnia and Herzegovina (including energy projects such as the Southern Interconnection) belong to the state and its citizens. They are not the spoils of ethno-feudal elites, nor are they a tool for political bargaining and bribery in the private business dealings of domestic and foreign actors. Any concession to domestic politicians who have been blocking the state for years—by relinquishing control over contested real estate or strategic resources—would mean cementing their power in the long term and permanently blocking Bosnia and Herzegovina's Euro-Atlantic path. The threats of entity-fication of state property are evident.

We particularly emphasize that the commercialization of critical infrastructure, such as the Southern Interconnection, is not only an economic risk but an existential security risk. Any attempt to hand over strategic assets to private lobbyists just for them to be resold opens a direct path for Russian companies to seize control of key energy flows in the region. Consequently, Bosnia and Herzegovina would become an energy hostage to Moscow, which stands in direct contradiction to all declared goals of the EU and NATO.

Profile and Mandate of the High Representative: From Dayton to Brussels

We demand that the European Union and the PIC member states assume full geopolitical responsibility when selecting and defining the mandate of the future High Representative (OHR). Bosnia and Herzegovina does not need a “cooperative” technocrat who will serve as a legal facade for dubious economic contracts, political horse-trading, and capitulation to those who undermine the constitutional order. The future High Representative must be a strong, experienced political figure from the European Union, backed by an uncompromising and empowered mandate. Their primary task must be to defend the rule of law, protect state property, and decisively guide Bosnia and Herzegovina away from Dayton-imposed blockades toward Brussels standards of civic democracy.

In this context, we reject any attempt to split the path into an “American” and a “European” track as a false dichotomy. Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a shopping mall where its territorial integrity is bartered away through the competition of foreign powers. We are a European country with a European future, and we expect the European Union to act as a sovereign geopolitical actor that will protect its own neighborhood.

Call for the EU to Use the Veto Power Against Destabilization

We call upon the European Parliament and EU member states to utilize all their political and economic mechanisms to ensure an effective veto power over all international business and political arrangements that run counter to European principles, European security interests, and the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Europe must not allow the financial costs of bad and corrupt deals made at the margins of the rule of law to ultimately fall upon Bosnia and Herzegovina's and European institutions.

Sovereignty of Citizens vs. Sovereignty of Elites

By the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina, we do not mean the sovereignty of ethnic oligarchies that block the rule of law, but the sovereignty of its citizens. Any compromise that strengthens particularist elites at the expense of common institutions, regardless of who initiates it, represents a betrayal of the spirit of Dayton and a direct obstruction of European standards.

Gentlemen, peace and stability in the Balkans cannot be bought by empowering those who hold the state hostage. The decisions being made today in Bosnia and Herzegovina will echo far beyond its borders and will demonstrate whether the international community will continue to uphold the principles of international law or retreat before the logic of private interest.

Krug 99 remains consistent in its defense of a sovereign, unified, modern, European, and civic Bosnia and Herzegovina, and calls on you to act urgently and tangibly in accordance with your proclaimed European values.

Sincerely,

On behalf of the Association of Independent Intellectuals “Krug 99”

Adil Kulenović, President