After a two-day session of the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC), a new high representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina has not been elected.

The reason is that no consensus was reached between the United States and EU countries over who it should be.

The United States is adamant that Antonio Zanardi Landi should be appointed to the position, and it has the support of Italy as well as its traditional non-European partners.

On the other side, Brussels, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom insisted that the new high representative should be Frenchman Rene Trokaz.

Zanardi Landi was even brought to the session, which was not typical in earlier periods when high representatives were selected. A conclusion was reached to try to bring positions closer in order for the new high representative to be elected by the end of the month.

Although the United States previously supported a European solution for the high representative, with Europeans selecting the deputy, this time the situation has changed. The reasons are economic in nature, as the US expects the new high representative to also resolve the issue of state property so that the Southern Interconnection project can begin to be implemented. On the other hand, EU countries do not want to lose the influence they had through this institution.

More important than the name itself is the question of what powers the new high representative will have.