There are many reactions to the speech of the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Željko Komšić, at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Komšić made accusations against Croatia and Serbia – that they are attacking the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Do neighboring countries interfere in the internal political issues of Bosnia and Herzegovina?
“Our current political system is skilfully used by our western and eastern neighbors, and through the ethnic communities in BiH, to which they claim national rights, they actually manage BiH, not with the aim of helping, but to either divide BiH or make it meaningless as a state,” said Komšić. during his speech.
According to established practice for speeches, even in the UN, comments follow, such as the one that the chairman’s speech was not coordinated. This was said by the member of the Presidency Željka Cvijanović and pointed out that there is nothing problematic in Serbia’s relationship with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“There is not a single statement where they thwarted anything or disputed or called into question anything that refers to Bosnia and Herzegovina. They always promote the Dayton Agreement, an agreement between two entities and three peoples, as provided for in the Constitution. I do not see any mixing,” Cvijanović said.
And it was from the floor of the UN Assembly that the president of our neighboring country, the Republic of Croatia, called for the amendment of the BiH election law. He says that all constituent nations would be represented at all levels, which, according to Milanović, is crucial for the stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“We support the European perspective of BiH and welcome the EU to grant it candidate status. We continue to advocate reforms of the electoral legislation in order to ensure the legitimate representation of the constituent peoples,” said Milanović.
“It is Mr. Komšić who violates international law, parasitises other people’s rights. He is a usurper of the Croatian quota. He was not elected by the votes of the Croatian people, but he is usurping that right because of the imperfection of that law,” said Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman.
For analyst Milan Sitarski, Komšić’s statement about neighboring countries has no factual basis.
“He is bothered by any factual interactions between the actors of Serbia and Croatia with those in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while ignoring that this is a country of three constituent nations, two of which have their home states in the neighborhood of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is completely illusory to expect that there is no political interaction,” says Sitarski.
Political analyst from Belgrade Dušan Janjić assesses that Komšić’s speech followed last year’s report by the high representative in the Security Council, that Bosnia and Herzegovina is on the verge of a serious risk of a limited armed conflict. He also referred to Zoran Milanović’s speech.
“What he says cannot compare to the truth. The truth is that he is one of those leaders in a wider circle that includes Vučić, Orban, Doidk and HDZ. Komšić has hit the spot,” Janjić opined.
In part of his presentation, Komšić equated the Croatian Prime Minister, Andrej Plenković, with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin – which was met with condemnation. In his speech, Komšić pointed out that Bosnians and Herzegovinians who are leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina cite a political system that is ethnocratic as a reason, BHRT reports.
