While Chairman of the BiH Presidency Denis Bećirović was addressing the UN General Assembly, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz was not in the hall because he was meeting with Serb member of the BiH Presidency Željka Cvijanović, BiH Ambassador to Serbia Aleksandar Vranješ told SRNA.
Commenting on what he described as Republika Srpska’s new diplomatic offensive and recent visits to the United States, Israel and Russia, Vranješ said these activities demonstrate that Republika Srpska has developed what he called an authentic diplomatic position in international relations.
“We can see that Republika Srpska’s position has been significantly elevated internationally and is producing serious positive effects for Republika Srpska,” Vranješ said.
He argued that reactions in Sarajevo were another indication of this development, claiming that Bosniak officials had failed in their efforts to promote what he described as anti-Serb narratives internationally.
“All of this can now be seen in a single image. While Bećirović is addressing the UN and considers that a major foreign policy success, the head of the U.S. Mission to the UN is not in the hall. At that moment, he is meeting with Željka Cvijanović,” Vranješ said.
According to Vranješ, this illustrates Cvijanović’s position in New York. He said she had received a personal invitation from the White House to attend the traditional reception hosted by the U.S. president for heads of state and government during the UN General Assembly.
Vranješ said Bećirović received an invitation in his capacity as the current chairman of the BiH Presidency, while he described Cvijanović’s invitation as being extended to her personally and linked it to her role as a representative from Republika Srpska and her foreign policy activities during the past four years as a member of the BiH Presidency.
He argued that the invitation demonstrated a strengthening of Republika Srpska’s position in the eyes of official Washington and the Trump administration.
Vranješ also criticized Bećirović’s address to the UN General Assembly, describing its political message as outdated and arguing that it had remained largely unchanged for the past three decades.
“The most interesting thing is that Bećirović was repeating phrases that have already been heard so many times that there is hardly anyone left there to take them seriously. On the other hand, we can see how many doors are open to Željka Cvijanović,” Vranješ said.
He said he expected the diplomatic activities to result in additional bilateral meetings and, in his view, a stronger position for Republika Srpska in relations with other countries.
Vranješ also argued that this could eventually contribute to stronger economic and foreign trade cooperation and increased investment in Republika Srpska.
“There is no doubt that this is the direction in which Republika Srpska’s future foreign policy initiatives around the world will move,” he said.
According to Vranješ, these developments demonstrate both what he described as the failure of Bosniak foreign policy initiatives and the strengthening of Republika Srpska’s international position.
“All of this raises not only Republika Srpska’s profile, but also improves the opportunity for its official positions to be heard more frequently by other countries,” Vranješ said.
He added that the activities of Milorad Dodik, Cvijanović and their wider team — including maintaining relations with the Russian Federation and Israel, earlier cooperation with Hungary and more recent engagement with the United States — reflected what he described as a long-term and strategic effort to strengthen Republika Srpska’s standing among influential countries.
Vranješ noted that Dodik had visited Israel twice, while Cvijanović has made several visits to the White House this year, most recently meeting with the U.S. president’s chief of staff. He added that Dodik is preparing to travel to the Russian Federation for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.
Source: RTRS
