The recent appointment of Milan Tegeltija as the Consul of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in neighboring Croatia has once again sparked debates about BiH foreign policy. This former judge and president of the country’s highest judicial institution, who was dismissed after a wiretapping scandal and subsequently sanctioned by the United States (U.S.) for corruption, without diplomatic experience, has been appointed to one of the diplomatic missions.
His case is just the latest in a series of decisions by domestic diplomacy that raise eyebrows among international partners and undermine the country’s reputation. Once they assume their positions in foreign countries, diplomats representing BiH do not speak with a unified voice. While Milorad Dodik in Russia promises President Vladimir Putin that the country will not join NATO, representatives of ruling parties from the Federation of BiH (FbiH) advocate for Euro-Atlantic integration in Brussels.
Apart from political divisions, BiH diplomats lack two key documents that would determine their direction, so their stance abroad is divided even on some crucial events shaping international relations, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Gaza conflict.
“Unfortunately, all the complexity of our system and political structure is reflected in our foreign policy,” says Edo Kanlic, who has led the Initiative for Monitoring the European Integration of BiH for years.
“The best proof of this is the fact that to this day we do not have a law on foreign affairs, nor a valid foreign policy strategy,” he adds.
Over the past three decades, BiH has adopted only two strategies on foreign affairs, the latest of which expired last year. There have been several attempts to adopt a law, and this Council of Ministers is the first to reach an agreement and adopt a draft law. However, the State Parliament did not support it, and since September 2023, the law has been under review.
Without a clear plan and framework, the country remains vulnerable to foreign influences, explains Sead Turcalo, dean of the Faculty of Political Sciences in Sarajevo, adding that there have been a series of threats from the Russian ambassador to BiH, who stated that BiH cannot decide independently on its foreign policy but must consult with the Russian Federation about it.
“If there is no reaction, then the public slowly begins to accept the view that, in fact, the Russian Federation can have such an influence on our foreign policy, where we practically do not behave like a sovereign state,” Turcalo adds.
Today, there is no consensus on the text of the law in the State Parliament, so its adoption has been postponed. The text of the new strategy is yet to be prepared.
Elmedin Konakovic, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in one of the previous interviews, stated that the new strategy should foresee alignment with the European Union (EU) and NATO paths. But he also adds that these are the main reasons why representatives of the Republika Srpska (RS) in the institutions of BiH will not support this document, Detektor writes.
