The Ambassador of BiH to Serbia, Aleksandar Vranješ, said that the position of the new US administration — that it no longer wants to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries — has opened space for Republika Srpska to establish a better dialogue with the United States.
Speaking at the Euronews Adriatic Summit in Belgrade, Vranješ said that a new level of understanding is now possible — something that has been missing for decades.
“For 30 years, we have endured strong US pressure. Republika Srpska had to give dialogue a chance in order to establish a new level of understanding,” Vranješ said during the panel discussion “The Region Between East and West.”
Commenting on the fact that the US has had no ambassador in Sarajevo since February, he explained that the acting head of the US Embassy has been given a one-year mandate and that it will soon be clear whether a new ambassador will be appointed or, as speculated in Sarajevo, whether Washington will establish a regional embassy covering BiH.
Addressing the question of why reaching agreements in BiH is so difficult — particularly regarding the appointment of the chief EU negotiator — Vranješ said that EU accession remains a strategic goal supported by all three constituent peoples. However, the disagreements, he added, concern which European Union BiH is negotiating with — “the one that supports interventionism and imposition, or the one that values internal dialogue among BiH’s peoples.”
“The ruling coalition in BiH agreed that the SNSD would nominate the chief negotiator, but the Bosniak coalition decided to break that deal. Brussels, however, did not criticize the Bosniak side, even though it disrupted the agreement and continues to block decisions important for the EU integration process. The Bosniak side is doing the blocking, yet Republika Srpska is being blamed for it,” Vranješ stressed.
He noted that BiH, along with Serbia, remains one of the few European countries that have not imposed sanctions on the Russian Federation, pointing out the double standards in Sarajevo’s criticism of SNSD President Milorad Dodik for maintaining relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, while at the same time benefiting from Russia’s favorable gas prices.
“The Bosniak political elite has tried several times to put the issue of sanctions against Russia on the agenda, but Republika Srpska has consistently opposed it — and they have never managed to carry it out,” Vranješ said.
He underlined that in practice, there are no restrictions on relations with Russia:
“At universities in Banjaluka and East Sarajevo, there are many students from the Russian Federation who travel freely under a visa-free regime. There are no financial or other limitations, and the BiH Embassy in Moscow operates without any issues.”
Vranješ concluded that Sarajevo had tried to maneuver around the decisions of the BiH Presidency, but failed, meaning that BiH — alongside Serbia — remains one of the countries that have not joined the sanctions against Russia.
Source: Glas Srpske
