”Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is doing better than ever, it has many friends on the international scene who would be ready for any kind of intervention,” said Elmedin Konakovic, Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH and president of the People and Justice (Narod i Pravda – NiP) party.
“There are a lot of open current topics in BiH, on the one hand, the chances and opportunities we have due to changes within the European Union (EU), on the part of the mood towards enlargement, opportunities for BiH to move significantly closer in the integration process, and on the other hand, the constant tensions produced by domestic politicians in BiH, mainly from the BiH entity Republika Srpska (RS), which are in some way a nuisance and a threat, in the opinion of international representatives, due to their great closeness to Russia, choosing that side when the majority of the world is on the other side,” Konakovic said.
He adds that the commitment and the focus of the United States (U.S.) on the issues that are important for BiH is encouraging.
“I received firm convictions that this is strong support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of BiH. We are following the story surrounding EUFOR, and whether the Althea mission will be continued. I received promises that if Russia blocks the continuation of this story, NATO will be present in BiH. I am sure that our friends, who are now adequately informed, will be there,” Konakovic explained.
When it comes to his relationship with Dodik, he states that the president of the RS has recently avoided several messages and calls.
“This coincides with the concept that he started to apply again. He is not as brave as I thought he would be. He is a coward, he is too scared to step into something unknown – compromise and dialogue. I don’t know what annoyed him. Maybe the fact that I speak in every place about the protection of territorial integrity, sovereignty… there are no more lobbyists who could spread falsehoods about BiH. He was not telling the truth when he said that I was advocating for only one part of BiH. This is precisely the difference between us and our predecessors. He did not learn that politicians from the Federation of BiH (FBiH) care for the whole of BiH,” he stated.
Konakovic also commented on the latest events in Kosovo.
”There are two possible scenarios for Vucic, neither one is good. After this attack, things changed. Vucic cannot deny his closeness with the attackers. By this act, Russia showed that it controls a part of the structures within Serbia. Vucic looked confused and embarrassed. Serbia will answer in international circles,” he said and emphasized: “We always have to be vigilant. I don’t believe in reconciliation with people who don’t want to admit the truths from previous events. Between the fact that we have to sit and talk, there must be caution. One must always be careful, that those who have gone to war can be ready for that kind of attempt again. Today things are very bad for them,” Konakovic concluded.
