William Schmidt of Germany officially stepped into his new role as the High Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina on August 1st. He replaces Valentin Inzko, who had held the position for the last 12 years. The High Representative is pointed by the European Union and is tasked with overseeing the 1995 Dayton Peace agreement, which brought the Bosnian war to an end. The president of the Platform for Progress, Mirsad Hadžikadič, had an opportunity to speak with both Schmidt and Inzko on Monday during an informal reception to introduce Schmidt. Mirsad indicated that he hopes to have more private and formal discussions with Schmidt in the future, to explain in more detail the vision of the Platform. Mirsad said he is encouraged though, by the fact that Schmidt has openly discussed the need for electronic voting in the country, an issue that Mirsad and the Platform have been pressing for the last three years. Mirsad, also spoke to me about an opportunity he had to revisit some of his family roots.
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