Dzaferovic and Komsic refused to meet with Russian Foreign Minister

Member of Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Sefik Dzaferovic, after refusing to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, said that BiH has its pride and wants to send a strong message and that everyone must respect the decisions made by all peoples in BiH.

“We want to preserve the dignity and pride of the homeland of BiH in this way. The Russian Federation is a great state, a world power. BiH is not a world power, but it is a very important and significant country in the world. We have our pride and we want to say what we think at the moment,” he said.

He said that the Russian Federation says that it respects the Dayton Peace Agreement, respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of BiH, Klix.ba writes.

“But yesterday’s statements at Minister Lavrov’s press conference, which are repeated through the behavior of the Russian ambassador to BiH, tell us something different. Respecting the Dayton Peace Agreement means respecting all its annexes. The first thing that is mentioned is the state of BiH, its continuity, institutions and the flag and coat of arms. These are symbols of BiH and its institutions that must be respected, and that was not respected yesterday, “he said.

Zeljko Komsic, member of Presidency of BiH, stated that he had two reasons for such a decision, the lack of a state flag at yesterday’s meeting with Milorad Dodik, and statements welcoming the resolution on military neutrality passed by the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska.

“RS is our partner, we have good relations and our goal is cooperation with BiH and its peoples,” Lavrov said. Lavrov said that Russia, as one of the guarantors of the Dayton Agreement, strongly respects all principles and its content, and that he calls on other international factors to do the same, Lavrov stated during the meeting with Dodik yesterday in East Sarajevo.

“The basic principles require that all problems be resolved by consensus within BiH without external interference. We believe that it is time to abolish the OHR, because BiH has long since matured to be a country without protectorates, “he said. 

He said that he participated in the drafting of the Dayton Agreement, and that he knew how much effort was needed to achieve it. Lavrov also stressed that the Dayton Accords are not an obstacle to the country’s progress on the European path. 

“We are glad that RS has made a decision on military neutrality, because we do not need any confrontation caused by NATO’s actions. We also talked a lot about the economy, because companies like Sberbank, Gazprom and others work here with a lot of success, which guarantees us the development of new prosperous projects “, said the head of Russian diplomacy.