After the Memorandum of the Embassy of Israel in which, among other things, support for HDZ’s proposal for changes to the Election Law was expressed, numerous reactions followed, and the focus was on diplomacy of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). However, instead of a quality foreign policy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH responds inconsistently to the move of the Embassy of Israel, showing that there is no unity in this institution either.
There is a new political game in BiH diplomacy. Leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the main roles. The Embassy of Israel supported HDZ’s proposal to amend the Election Law, and then in BiH diplomacy, there are mistakes in steps. Minister Bisera Turkovic reacted quickly, and her deputy Josip Brkicdenied it even faster. First the demarche, then the denial. Communication and consultation are absent. One sentence was enough for the well-known disagreements within the country to go beyond the borders. True, this is not the first time.
“All this talk was completely unnecessary and it has only one meaning, because there is no diplomacy here, there is nothing. This is internal politics, this is an election campaign. This affair should be viewed only from that angle,” said former diplomat Slobodan Soja.
And as the note from the Embassy of Israel turned into a new affair, numerous shortcomings of foreign policy came to the surface. Diplomacy driven by the interests of political parties on the international stage has no future.
“I wouldn’t say that the demarche itself is a shame, but we have long since embarrassed ourselves when it comes to foreign policy, we haven’t had it for over twenty years. I don’t think it’s anything new. Until now, politics has always been conducted in private gatherings and it has always been like that, I have no doubt that it was like that this time as well,” believes professor of international relations Zlatko Hadzidedic.
“We have, de facto, ethnic diplomacy linked to certain political structures. No ethnic group gains anything with this diplomacy, it is just a misfortune for the state of BiH. This has a catastrophic effect on our diplomatic position in the world,” warns former diplomat Sabit Subasic.
The inconsistency of our diplomacy, which tends to change positions according to mood, ultimately has great consequences for the state. Instead of the desirable good image of our country, the worst one is traveling around the world.
“We give the image of a frivolous and poorly organized state that does not know what it wants. It seems that sometimes we know better what we don’t want than what we want. However, in order to achieve what we want, we often have to do what, in fact, we don’t want to, but we have to,” noted Jakob Finci, president of the Jewish community in BiH.
“In diplomatic terms, we are embarrassing ourselves non-stop internationally. If you follow the media, events on the international scene, our entire activity on the international scene is, in principle, more or less, a shame,” assesses Subasic.
The communication between Turkovic and Brkic seems to be the same as that between SDA and HDZ. The policy they implement inside BiH continues outside it.
“Foreign policy as well as internal policy, as well as the state itself, have been systematically dismantled by the current rulers,” told Hadzidedic.
Foreign policy is a reflection of internal policy, but it can be, if implemented systematically, organized and of high quality, a path to a better and more stable state. But, our interlocutors agree that BiH has had almost no foreign policy for more than two decades. What is left of it is carried out by diplomats – solo players with private politics on the international level. And their result is, it is increasingly certain, only trouble and shame, Federalna writes.
E.Dz.
