The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elmedin Konaković, participated in today’s working meeting of the Partnership Commission of the US-Adriatic Charter (A5), held on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced.
The meeting focused on the topics of energy security, resilience, and hybrid threats, including the opportunity for enhancing regional cooperation in facing joint security challenges.
Minister Konaković emphasized that these questions for Bosnia and Herzegovina increasingly interconnect and represent an integral part of the total national and regional security. Speaking about security challenges in the region, Minister Konaković especially reflected on the events in Republika Srpska related to the organization of the funeral for the finally convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić.
“It would be wrong to speak of other threats while ignoring a direct threat coming from Serbia, something we witnessed during the organization of the funeral for the convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić,” said the Minister and highlighted the engagement of institutions and state resources of Serbia in funeral organization, as well as the Army of Serbia and the use of Serbian Government aircraft for transporting the body of Ratko Mladić.
In that context, Konaković also reflected on public attempts by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, to distance himself from the responsibility for the engagement of the Serbian Armed Forces, stating that the issue of using the Serbian Armed Forces is clearly regulated by Serbian legislation.
“Article 17 of the Law on the Serbian Armed Forces explicitly states that the President of the Republic decides on the use of the Serbian Armed Forces and commands them in peace and war. The same article states that the President adopts the Plan for the Use of the Armed Forces and orders the deployment of the Serbian Armed Forces. This is not a matter of political interpretation, but of what Serbian law prescribes,” the Minister highlighted, adding that the fact that state bodies, state resources, and the Serbian Armed Forces were involved in organizing the event requires this event to be viewed within a broader context of attitudes toward war crimes and judicial cooperation in the region.
He also reminded that a certain number of individuals convicted or accused of war crimes committed during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been residing in Serbia for years, beyond the reach of the judicial institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
As an example, he cited Novak Đukić, whom the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina finally sentenced to 20 years in prison for the crime committed at Tuzla’s Kapija, in which 71 civilians were killed and 240 injured.
Konaković reminded that Đukić, after fleeing to Serbia, did not serve the sentence imposed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He also mentioned the cases of Duško Kornjača and Tomislav Kovač, who are linked before the judicial institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina in proceedings for war crimes, namely the Srebrenica genocide, and are currently located in Serbia.
“These are not accusations made up for political purposes. These are final verdicts, indictments, and cases documented by judicial institutions and the European Commission,” Konaković said.
He emphasized that the events related to Ratko Mladić’s Funeral cannot be viewed as an isolated case, but rather within the context of the broader issue of regional cooperation in prosecuting war crimes, executing final judgments, and dealing with the legacy of war.
When it comes to energy security, Minister Konaković particularly highlighted the significance of the Southern Gas Interconnection project with the Republic of Croatia, assessing it as one of the key strategic energy initiatives for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to him, the significance of this project goes beyond the construction of the pipeline itself, as it would enable the opening of an alternative supply route, the diversification of energy sources and a stronger connection of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the broader European energy system.
In this context, the Minister also singled out the significance of the US-Adriatic Charter, assessing that it has the potential to be more than a political platform and to represent a practical framework for the exchange of experiences, the strengthening of preventive capacities, and the development of mutual support mechanisms in addressing shared vulnerabilities.
