Three months after learning that two expelled Russian diplomats are now accredited in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the local authorities have not yet found an answer to this Russian move. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Elmedin Konakovic, was asked in an interview if he knows where these two diplomats are today and what they are doing in BiH. Also, it was analyzed what the local authorities should have done, but also what kind of security risks are now represented by diplomats who are considered dangerous by NATO countries.
After weeks of not responding to invitations for an interview, Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmedin Konakovic finally agreed and confirmed that Ilija Serov and Anton Sokolov still enjoy diplomatic status. When asked if he knows what they are currently doing in BiH, Konakovic had a short answer.
“No”, he said and added that he does not know what their real intentions are.
“Russia views this part of the Western Balkans and BiH perhaps primarily as a training ground for proving some kind of power and achieving some of its goals,” Konakovic stated and explained that Russia is obstructing BiH’s path towards the European Union (EU) and NATO.
While other countries do not hesitate to expel Russian diplomats who they find to be violating the usual diplomatic protocols of the host country, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH explained that he cannot do this.
“Unfortunately, we have limited options to be able to react quickly, promptly, and adequately, and we are in the phase of some kind of research into what it is actually possible to do, not only in this case but also in all subsequent cases,” he emphasized.
The first and only real official response to Russia’s sending of diplomats to BiH was Minister Konakovic’s letter to Russia that such persons should no longer be sent to BiH.
He says that he did not receive a response to the letter, nor any other additional information from domestic intelligence and other agencies.
Dean of the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Sarajevo (UNSA), Sead Turcalo, considers such a move quite naive.
“It is as if you are addressing a country that you consider extremely friendly, which made a mistake, did it by accident. Everyone here knows, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs is also aware, that this is not by chance,” explained Turcalo and added that everything that Russia is doing, especially since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, cannot be seen as friendly by BiH.
“The optimal answer would be to cancel their ID, and thus the stay, since there is reliable information from NATO member countries that they engaged in activities in those countries that are contrary to the Vienna Convention,” Turcalo stated.
He believes that it is not so important when these people entered BiH, but that the reaction after it is discovered is important, and that it needs to be institutional and not individual, Detektor reports.
Photo: Fena
E.Dz.
