(ANSA-AFP) - SARAJEVO, MAY 11 - The international envoy overseeing the implementation of the peace deal that ended the Bosnian war in 1995 confirmed Monday that he will resign after five years in the post. Former German minister Christian Schmidt "has taken the personal decision to conclude his service to the implementation of peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina", said a statement released by his office. German media had reported the decision on Sunday. The Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia was established after the country's 1992-1995 war, which claimed around 100,000 lives and displaced millions. The high representative oversees the civilian implementation of the Dayton peace agreement that ended the war, and the mandate is not time-limited. The envoy enjoys wide powers, including to impose or annul laws and sack elected officials. Schmidt, 68, will remain in office until a successor is appointed, the OHR statement added. He is currently in New York, where he is to present a six-monthly report on Bosnia to the UN Security Council on Tuesday. His tenure has been marked by tensions with the Bosnian Serb entity of Republika Srpska, one of Bosnia's two semi-autonomous regions linked by weak central institutions. When Schmidt took office in 2021, Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik branded him "illegitimate", arguing he had no formal UN Security Council approval because of opposition from Russia and China. Schmidt nevertheless vowed to use all "political tools" at his disposal to make Bosnia a more functional state anchored to the European Union. Dodik, a Kremlin ally, labelled Schmidt a threat to Republika Srpska and dismissed him as a "tourist with no power". "Schmidt is leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina in precisely the same manner in which he entered it - without legitimacy," Dodik wrote on X following the announcement. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which first reported the resignation, Schmidt's departure is not entirely voluntary and "business interests linked to the Trump family could play a role". Dodik has forged ties with people in the US President Donald Trump's circle. The president's son Donald Trump Jr. recently visited the Republika Srpska capital, Banja Luka, on what was described as a "friendly basis". Also, former US presidential adviser Michael Flynn has close ties with the Serb entity and, according to media reports, lobbied on its behalf. During Schmidt's tenure "significant progress" has been achieved in making Bosnia more functional, the OHR statement said noting that none of his decisions had been overturned by courts. But more work is needed to advance the Balkan nation's Euro-Atlantic ambitions, it added. "A unified international community remains indispensable" to Bosnia's stability and its progress toward Euro-Atlantic integration, the statement said. (ANSA-AFP).