In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Bisera Turkovic said that Russia was threatening BiH and that politicians backed by that country had begun destabilizing a country whose only hope is European Union (EU) membership.
”Secession has already begun in BiH, and the EU has a simple and cheap method to ensure that the Balkans do not end up under Russian influence. Let them accept our request for EU candidate status,” Turkovic said.
Although a longtime diplomat, Turkovic is very clear and open in alerting the international community, according to Corriere Della Sera:
”We are worried, Moscow wants to go back to the time when it was big, it will definitely not stop and will continue to operate not only in Moldova and Transnistria but also in our region.”
Turkovic pointed out that Serbia must decide who it is with, whether with the EU or with Moscow and that the country cannot want to become part of the EU and at the same time maintain close and strong ties with Russia.
”We do not know exactly how they will behave in the future and I think it is time to decide where we want the Western Balkans to go,” is the position of the BiH Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Turkovic said that the Balkans geographically belonged to Europe and that official Brussels must take steps to protect the area so that no other power would spread interest within it.
”I would say that the secession already began. There are decisions taken by Republika Srpska (RS) that go in that direction and that will become effective within a year. If Milorad Dodik wins the next elections in October, he will surely activate his plans for RS,” Turkovic emphasized.
Therefore, she believes that BiH must become a candidate country for EU membership as soon as possible because that would be a clear signal to everyone in BiH.
Turkovic also told the Italian newspaper that Ukraine should receive candidate status and that Russia also sent a signal to the Balkan countries about their Euro-Atlantic integration because it wants to dominate this area. If Russia gains control of BiH, the Foreign Minister believes it would mean control of the wider region, Federalna writes.
E.Dz.
