The foreign ministers of the successor states of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) gathered in New York to consider speeding up the implementation of the Agreement on Succession Issues, but the representative of Serbia did not attend this meeting.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina(BiH), Elmedin Konakovic, expressed his views on this move by our eastern neighbors.
“Serbia behaves unfairly and is not cooperative when it comes to the distribution of the assets of the former SFRY. Although there are expert teams working on this issue, without a political agreement reaching an agreement is almost impossible,” Konakovic told.
He added that Slovenia and Serbia previously proposed a resolution to solve this problem, but Serbia did not agree to that proposal.
“The key problem lies in the fact that Serbia claims to be the sole successor to the property of the former SFRY, arguing that the states themselves seceded, instead of recognizing the breakup of Yugoslavia. We will never agree to that version, and all other states, except Serbia, support a fair agreement and distribution”, noted Konakovic.
Konakovic suggested that the states should be registered for real estate that is jointly owned and emphasized that BiH’s attitude towards this topic must be more active, as he said that we have not been particularly active so far. He pointed out that part of the succession has already been realized, and certain assets have been sold and the income distributed.
“BiH has received a certain amount of funds, which will be invested in the purchase of new real estate for diplomatic missions,” states BiH’s head of diplomacy.
Finally, he commented on the decision of his Serbian colleagues to boycott this meeting.
“Serbia’s non-attendance at this meeting with other members of the former SFRY has its own political message. We will all address Serbia together in a letter regarding this issue, so that we are all recognized as successors. I want to emphasize that Serbia is not fair even when it comes to cultural protection heritage of the former state,” Konakovic concluded, Klix.ba reports.
E.Dz.
