The Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Igor Kalabuhov, said yesterday that it is a myth that Russia ”forbids BiH from joining NATO and the European Union (EU)”, stressing that BiH is independent in its decisions and that neither Russia, nor the EU, nor the United States (U.S.) have the right to interfere in its internal affairs and determine which path to take.
”But BiH (the leadership of the country) must understand that in the event that BiH joins a bloc whose main goal is the destruction of Russia, then we – also a free country with an independent foreign policy, like BiH – have the right to defend ourselves,” said Kalabuhov and added that as long as no measures are taken against Russia, it has no need to strengthen defense measures.
He wrote on the official Facebook page of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in BiH that it is a myth that Russia ”forbids BiH from joining NATO and the EU”, and that even the wording itself is ”ridiculous”.
Moreover, he emphasized that BiH is independent in its decisions and that neither Russia, the EU, nor the U.S. have the right to interfere in its internal affairs and determine which path to take.
”However, this is traditionally followed by a clarification that always causes a lot of incorrect interpretations and various headlines from the category ”Russia is threatening again!”. Here it can be objected that, hypothetically, one can enter NATO or the EU with completely different intentions that have nothing to do with Russia. For example, to resolve accumulated internal contradictions,” he added.
Kalabuhov said that BiH and Russia are closely related to each other, ”but not in the way that many domestic and foreign portals write about it”, and that for this reason, in the coming days, he will publish one of the ”most rooted and harmful myths” which, he said, were imposed to spoil the sincere and close relations between the two countries.
E.Dz.
