The Russian Federation intends to strengthen strategic relations with Republika Srpska in all areas, Russian Ambassador Igor Kalabukhov said in East Sarajevo, where he laid a wreath at the monument to former Russian ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin.
Diplomat’s Day of the Russian Federation was marked in East Sarajevo, and on that occasion wreaths were laid at the Churkin monument by the mayor of East Sarajevo, Ljubiša Ćosić, acting as an envoy of the president of Republika Srpska, delegations from the municipalities of East Novo Sarajevo, Sokolac and Milići, and Vojin Pavlović from the association Eastern Alternative.
Kalabukhov emphasized that Russian diplomacy has always served the defense of national interests.
He explained that diplomacy is the art of finding compromise and that today is a holiday for all those working in diplomacy.
“At one time there was a saying that if someone coughs in St. Petersburg, Europe gets a headache,” Kalabukhov told journalists.
He thanked the Serb people for their affection toward Russia, as well as everyone who attended the marking of Russia’s Diplomat’s Day.
Ćosić noted that Churkin holds an important place in the hearts and lives of the Serb people and Republika Srpska, because, based on a decision by the Russian president and leadership, he said “no” to labeling the Serbs as a genocidal people.
“When we speak about Russian diplomacy, it must be said that there is respect for everyone. Wherever Russian diplomats are present, regardless of the size of the country, they do not interfere in that country’s internal affairs,” Ćosić said.
He added that it is unnecessary to speak at length about Serb-Russian brotherhood, noting that this dimension was expressed through the historic “no” delivered by Churkin at the UN, which prevented the Serbian people from being branded as genocidal.
A memorial plaque to Vitaly Churkin was installed in East Sarajevo in 2017, and a bust was unveiled in July last year.
Churkin passed away in New York on February 20, 2017, one day before his 65th birthday. He is remembered among Serbs for vetoing the British draft resolution on Srebrenica at the UN Security Council, thereby preventing the unjust stigmatization of the Serbian people as genocidal.
Russia’s Diplomat’s Day was established by a decree of the president of the Russian Federation on October 31, 2002, marking 200 years since the formation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.
On this day, employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation lay flowers at the graves of distinguished Russian diplomats, buried in Russia and abroad, in remembrance of previous generations of national diplomacy.
Source: Atv
